)f  California 


SS?  HE  BOOK  of 


FOLK  STORIES 


PROPERTY  OF  BURUIY  INDEPEN*-, 

EN7  SCHOOL  DISTRICT  NO-1 


Rotate  6. 


JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL:  A  Biography.  With  por- 
traits and  other  illustrations,  an  Appendix,  and  a  full 
Bibliography.  2  vols. 

MEN  AND  LETTERS.  Essays  in  Characterization  and 
Criticism. 

CHILDHOOD  IN  LITERATURE  AND  ART:  With  some 
Observations  on  Literature  for  Children. 

NOAH  WEBSTER.  In  American  Men  of  Letters.  With 
Portrait. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  An  Historical  Biography.  In 
Riverside  School  Library. 

THE  DWELLERS  IN  FIVE  SISTERS  COURT.  A  Novel. 

STORIES  AND  ROMANCES. 

DR,EAM  CHILDREN,    illustrated. 

SEVEN  LITTLE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  FRIENDS.  Illus- 
trated. 

STORIES  FROM   MY  ATTIC.    For  Children.   Illustrated. 

BOSTON  TOWN.  The  Story  of  Boston  told  to  Children. 
Illustrated. 

THE  CHILDREN'S  BOOK.  A  Collection  of  the  Best  Lit- 
erature for  Children.  New  Holiday  Edition.  Illustrated. 

THE  BOOK  OF  FABLES. 

THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

THE  BOOK  OF  FABLES  AND  FOLK  STORIES.  School 
Edition.  Illustrated. 

THE  BOOK  OF  LEGENDS. 

THE  BODLEY  BOOKS.  Including  Doings  of  the  Bodley 
Family  in  Town  and  Country,  The  Bodleys  Telling  Sto- 
ries, The  Bodleys  on  Wheels,  The  Bodleys  Afoot,  Mr. 
Bodley  Abroad,  The  Bodley  Grandchildren  and  their 
Journey  in  Holland,  The  English  Bodleys,  and  The  Vi- 
king Bodleys.  Illustrated.  Eight  vols. 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 


THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES 


John  Everett  JHUlait  pinzit. 


CINDERELLA. 


THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK 
STORIES 


REWRITTEN  BY 

HORACE  E.  SCUDDEB 


BOSTON  AND    NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON    MIFFLIN   COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,    iSS;,    BY   HORACB  K.   SCUDDER 
COPYRIGHT,    1915,   BY   GRACE   OWEN   SCUDDER 

ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 


PEEFAOE. 


FIVE  years  ago  I  brought  out  a  little  volume, 
The  Book  of  Fables,  with  the  hope  that  it  would 
serve  to  introduce  children,  who  had  mastered 
their  primers,  to  an  acquaintance  with  the  world's 
literature.  I  thought,  and  still  think,  that  there 
is  no  one  form  of  literary  art  so  elementary  as  the 
fable,  and  no  book  so  emphatically  a  child's  first 
book  in  literature  as  one  which  gathers  the  fables 
most  familiar  to  the  ears  of  English-speaking 
people. 

The  fable  is  oriental,  and  it  is  antique.  It  is 
also  exceedingly  current  and  universal  as  a  coin 
of  speech.  The  man  and  the  boy  both  use  it,  and 
while  in  its  full  form  it  seems  most  capable  of 
giving  pleasure  to  the  child,  its  conventionalism 
enables  the  mature  mind  to  accept  it  without  any 
sense  of  condescension  to  childish  things.  It  is 
the  most  perfect  literary  instrument  of  association 
between  the  young  and  the  old,  and  becomes, 


vi  PREFACE. 

therefore,  by  right  the  first  possession  of  children 
in  literature. 

There  is  another  book  which  is  more  exclusively 
the  child's,  and  is  shared  by  older  people  rather 
through  memory  and  association  than  by  continued 
use.  Every  people  of  Europe,  and  the  Americans 
by  composite  inheritance,  have  a  body  of  household 
tales  which,  whatever  their  antiquity,  have  become 
the  peculiar  possession  of  Christendom.  Scholars 
have  made  comparative  studies  of  these  tales,  but 
they  have  based  their  studies  upon  the  stories  as 
they  have  been  transmitted,  not  so  much  through 
books  as  through  recital,  from  mother  to  child  in 
the  course  of  generations.  While  poets  were  form- 
ing the  literature  which  fills  our  libraries,  the  un- 
lettered people  were  repeating  to  each  other  these 
familiar  tales.  Now  and  then  some  romancer  would 
take  one  of  them  and  set  it  forth  in  finer,  more 
fantastic  garb,  but  for  the  most  part  the  form  was 
a  homely  one  which  did  not  greatly  vary  from  one 
age  to  another. 

The  Book  of  Folk  Stories  is  intended  to  con- 
tain the  most  famous  of  these  stories,  as  known  to 
English  -  speaking  people.  My  pleasant  task  has 
been  to  rewrite  them  in  such  a  form  that  they  may 
be  read  by  children  themselves,  at  an  age  when  they 


PREFACE.  Vii 

are  most  capable  of  enjoying  them.  I  have  not 
knowingly  departed  from  the  generally  accepted 
structure  of  the  stories.  I  have  simply  tried  to  use 
words  and  constructions  which  present  the  fewest 
difficulties.  Children  can  understand  by  hearing 
long  before  they  can  understand  by  reading,  and 
the  ordinary  versions  of  these  stories  would  be 
clearly  intelligible  to  a  child  of  eight  listening 
to  them,  when  the  same  child  might  not  be  able 
to  read  the  version  before  he  was  twelve.  But  at 
twelve,  we  will  say,  he  is  beginning  to  have  an 
interest  in  maturer  forms  of  literature,  and  is,  in- 
deed, ready  for  them.  What  I  wish  is  to  make  it 
possible  for  the  child  of  eight  to  read  these  stories 
himself. 

I  do  not  pretend  that  this  little  collection  is  a 
comprehensive  one,  or  is  even  representative,  but 
I  think  it  is  at  least  good  as  far  as  it  goes.  It 
contains  famous  stories,  and  those  which  may  most 
conveniently  be  used  in  the  class-room ;  for  since 
much  of  the  early  reading  which  American  chil- 
dren get  is  in  their  schools,  I  hope  this  book  may 
«ome  to  be  used  there,  and  make  the  teacher's 
work  lighter  through  the  pleasure  which  the  tales 
themselves  will  give  to  children.  Having  this  in 
mind,  I  have  arranged  the  stories  with  some  refer. 


Vlli  PREFACE. 

ence  to  the  order  of  ease  in  reading,  and  I  have 
purposely,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  book,  re- 
peated phrases  so  as  to  give  the  child  the  help 
which  a  familiar  passage  affords.  I  have  also  in- 
troduced chapter  divisions  for  further  aid. 

I  should  like  to  believe  that  I  had  succeeded  to 
some  extent  in  thinking  out  these  stories  as  a  child 
would  think  them,  and  so  had  used  that  order  and 
choice  of  words  which  would  be  the  natural  ex- 
pression of  a  child's  mind.  If  I  could  have  done 
this  perfectly,  I  should  have  produced  a  book  in 
which  a  child  would  feel  entirely  at  home.  But  I 
have  never  been  able  to  persuade  myself  that  I 
have  found  the  mixture  which  Alice  drank  in 
Wonderland,  when  she  wished  to  bring  her  head 
just  to  a  level  with  the  small  people  whom  she 
had  discovered. 

H.  E.  S. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASSACHUSETTS, 
June,  1887. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  THE  STORY  OF  CHICKEN  LICKEN     ....  11 

II.  THE  OLD  WOMAN  AND  HEB  Pro  ....  15 

III.  THE  THREE  BEARS 19 

IV.  THE  ELVES  AND  THE  SHOEMAKEB  ^2 
V.  HANS  IN  LUCK 26 

I.  THE    SILVER,   THE  HORSE,   THE  Cow,   AND 

THE  Pia 26 

II.  THE  Pio,  THE  GOOSE,  THE  GRINDSTONE,  AND 

NOTHING 30 

VI.  LITTLE  ONE  EYE,  LITTLE  Two  EYES,  AND  LITTLE 

THREE  EYES 35 

I.  THE  GOAT .35 

II.  THE  TREE 39 

III.  THE  PRINCE 44 

VII.  Puss  IN  Boors 47 

I.    PUSS  GOES  A-HUNTINQ 47 

II.    PUSS  AND  THE   LlON 51 

VTII.  CINDERELLA;  OR  THE  GLASS  SLIPPER     .        .        .55 

I.  CINDERELLA  IN  THE  KITCHEN      ...  55 

II.  CINDERELLA  IN  THE  PALACE    ....  60 

IX.  THE  SLEEPING  BEAUTY  IN  THE  WOOD        .        .  66 

I.  THE  BEAUTY  GOES  TO  SLEEP  ....  66 

II.  THE  BEAUTY  WAKES 71 


X  CONTENTS. 

X.  BBAUTY  AND  THE  BEAST 75 

I.  BEAUTY  AND  HER  SISTERS    ....        75 

II.  THE  BEAST  AT  HOME 79 

HI.  BEAUTY  GOES  TO  THE  BEAST        ...        82 

IV.  THE  CHARM  is  BROKEN 87 

XI.  JACK  AND  THE  BEAN  STALK  .  .  ,  .  91 
I.  THE  BEANS  ARE  PLANTED  ....  91 
II.  JACK  CAPTURES  A  HEN  ....  94 

III.  THE  GIANT'S  MONEY  BAGS      ....    99 

IV.  THE  HARP 102 

XII.  DICK  WHITTINGTON  AND  HIS  CAT    ....  105 

I.  DICK  GOES  TO  LONDON 105 

II.  DICK'S  CAT 108 

III.  Bow  BELLS Ill 

IV.  LORD  MAYOR  WHITTINGTON     .       .       .       .114 
XHI.  TOM  THUMB 118 

I.  TOM  is  SOLD  FOR  A  BARGAIN  .        .       .       .118 

II.    HOW  TOM  FRIGHTENED  THE  THIEVES  .  .        122 

III.  INSIDE  A  Cow 125 

IV.  SAFE  AT  HOME  AGAIN 127 

XIV.  THE  WHITE  CAT 130 

I.  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  WHITE  CAT        .        .      130 
II.  A  YEAR  OF  SPORT 134 

III.  THE  LITTLE  DOG  AND  THE  CAMBRIC  .       .      187 

IV.  THE  WHITE  CAT  HAS  HER  HEAD  cur  OFF     .  142 
V.  THE  WHITE  CAT'S  STORY,  BEGUN        .       .      143 

VI.  THE  WHITE  CAT'S  STORY,  ENDED   .       .       .146 
XV.  LITTLE  RED  Rn>i»a  HOOD 149 


THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 


THE  STORY  OF  CHICKEN-LICKEN. 

CHICKEN-LICKEN  went  one  day  to  the  wood. 
An  acorn  fell  upon  her  poor  bald  head,  and 
she  thought  the  sky  had  fallen.  Then  she 
said  she  would  go  and  tell  the  king  that  the 
sky  had  fallen.  So  Chicken-licken  turned 
back  and  met  Hen-len. 

"  Well,  Hen-len,  where  are  you  going  ?  " 
And  Hen-len  said  :  — 

"  I  am  going  to  the  wood  for  something  to 
eat."  Then  Chicken-licken  said :  — 

"  Oh !  Hen-len,  don't  go,  for  I  went,  and 
the  sky  fell  upon  my  poor  bald  head,  and  I 
am  going  to  tell  the  king."  So  Hen-len 
turned  back  and  met  Cock-lock. 

"  Well,  Cock-lock,  where  are  you  going  ?  " 
And  Cock-lock  said :  — 

"  I  am  going  to  the  wood  for  something  to 
eat."  Then  Hen-len  said  :  — 


12  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  Oh  !  Cock-lock,  don't  go,  for  I  was  go- 
ing, and  I  met  Chicken-licken,  and  Chicken- 
licken  had  been  at  the  wood,  and  the  sky  had 
fallen  on  her  poor  bald  head,  and  we  are  go- 
ing to  tell  the  king."  So  Cock-lock  turned 
back  and  met  Duck-luck. 

"  Well,  Duck-luck,  where  are  you  going  ?  " 
And  Duck-luck  said  :  — 

"  I  am  going  to  the  wood  for  something  to 
eat."  Then  Cock-lock  said  :  — 

"  Oh  !  Duck-luck,  don't  go,  for  I  was  go- 
ing, and  I  met  Hen-len,  and  Hen-len  met 
Chicken-licken,  and  Chicken-licken  had  been 
at  the  wood,  and  the  sky  had  fallen  on  her 
poor  bald  head,  and  we  are  going  to  tell  the 
king."  So  Duck-luck  turned  back  and  met 
Drake-lake. 

"  Well,  Drake-lake,  where  are  you  going  ?  " 
And  Drake-lake  saidN:  — 

"  I  am  going  to  the  wood  for  something  to 
eat."  Then  Duck-luck  said  :  — 

"  Oh !  Drake-lake,  don't  go,  for  I  was  go- 
ing, and  I  met  Cock-lock,  and  Cock-lock  met 
Hen-len,  and  Hen-len  met  Chicken-licken,  and 
Chicken-licken  had  been  at  the  wood,  and  the 
sky  had  fallen  on  her  poor  bald  head,  and  we 


THE  STORY  OF  CHICKEN-LICKEN.        13 

are  going  to  tell  the  king."  So  Drake-lake 
turned  back  and  met  Goose-loose. 

"  Well,  Goose-loose,  where  are  you  going  ?  " 
And  Goose-loose  said :  — 

"  I  am  going  to  the  wood  for  something  to 
eat."  Then  Drake-lake  said  :  — 

"  Oh  !  Goose-loose,  don't  go,  for  I  was  go- 
ing, and  I  met  Duck-luck,  and  Duck-luck  met 
Cock-lock,  and  Cock-lock  met  Hen-len,  and 
Hen-len  met  Chicken-licken,  and  Chicken- 
licken  had  been  at  the  wood,  and  the  sky  had 
fallen  on  her  poor  bald  head,  and  we  are  go- 
ing to  tell  the  king."  So  Goose-loose  turned 
back  and  met  Gander-lander. 

"  Well,  Gander-lander,  where  are  you  go- 
ing ?  "  And  Gander-lander  said  :  — 

"  I  am  going  to  the  wood  for  something  to 
eat."  Then  Goose-loose  said  :  — 

"  Oh  !  Gander-lander,  don't  go,  for  I  was 
going,  and  I  met  Drake-lake,  and  Drake-lake 
met  Duck-luck,  and  Duck-luck  met  Cock- 
lock,  and  Cock-lock  met  Hen-len,  and  Hen- 
len  met  Chicken-licken,  and  Chicken-licken 
had  been  at  the  wood,  and  the  sky  had  fallen 
on  her  poor  bald  head,  and  we  are  going  to 
tell  the  king."  So  Gander-lander  turned 
back  and  met  Turkey-lurkey. 


14  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  Well,  Turkey-lurkey,  where  are  you  go- 
ing ?  "  And  Turkey-lurkey  said :  — 

"  I  am  going  to  the  wood  for  something  to 
eat."  Then  Gander-lander  said :  — 

"  Oh !  Turkey-lurkey,  don't  go,  for  I  was 
going,  and  I  met  Goose-loose,  and  Goose-loose 
met  Drake-lake,  and  Drake-lake  met  Duck- 
luck,  and  Duck-luck  met  Cock-lock,  and  Cock- 
lock  met  Hen-len,  and  Hen-len  met  Chicken- 
licken,  and  Chicken-licken  had  been  at  the 
wood,  and  the  sky  had  fallen  on  her  poor 
bald  head,  and  we  are  going  to  tell  the 


So  Turkey-lurkey  turned  back  and  walked 
with  Gander-lander,  Goose-loose,  Drake-lake, 
Duck-luck,  Cock-lock,  Hen-len,  and  Chicken- 
licken.  And  as  they  were  walking  they  met 
Fox-lox.  And  Fox-lox  said  :  — 

"  Where  are  you  going,  my  pretty  maids  ?  " 
And  they  said  :  — 

"  Chicken-licken  went  to  the  wood,  and  the 
sky  fell  upon  her  poor  bald  head,  and  we 
are  going  to  tell  the  king."  Then  Fox-lox 


"  Come  with  me,  and  I  will  show  you  the 
way."     So  they  went  with  him,  but  Fox-lox 


THE   OLD    WOMAN  AND  HER  PIG.        15 

led  them  into  the  Fox's  hole,  and  he  and  his 
young  ones  soon  ate  poor  Chicken-licken, 
Hen-len,  Duck-luck,  Drake-lake,  Goose-loose, 
Gander-lander,  and  Turkey-lurkey,  and  they 
never  saw  the  king  to  tell  him  that  the  sky 
had  fallen. 


THE  OLD  WOMAN  AND  HER  PIG. 


AN   old  woman  was  sweeping  her 
and  she  found  a  little  crooked  sixpence. 

"What  shall  I  do  with  this  little  six- 
pence ?  "  said  she.  "  I  will  go  to  market, 
and  buy  a  little  pig."  As  she  was  coming 
home,  she  came  to  a  stile  ;  the  piggy  would 
not  jump  over  the  stile.  She  went  a  little 
further,  and  she  met  a  dog.  So  she  said  to 
the  dog  :  — 

"  Dog  !  dog  !  bite  pig  !  Pig  will  not  jump 
over  the  stile,  and  I  shall  not  get  home  to- 
night." But  the  dog  would  not.  She  went 
a  little  further,  and  she  met  a  stick.  So  she 
said  :  — 

"Stick!  stick!  beat  dog!  Dog  will  not 
bite  pig;  pig  will  not  jump  over  the  stile; 


16  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

and  I  shall  not  get  home  to-night."  But  the 
stick  would  not.  She  went  a  little  further, 
and  she  met  a  fire.  So  she  said  :  — 

"  Fire !  fire  !  burn  stick !  Stick  will  not 
beat  dog  ;  dog  will  not  bite  pig  ;  pig  will  not 
jump  over  the  stile ;  and  I  shall  not  get  home 
to-night."  But  the  fire  would  not.  She 
went  a  little  further,  and  she  met  some  water. 
So  she  said  :  — 

"  Water !  water  !  quench  fire  !  Fire  will 
not  burn  stick ;  stick  will  not  beat  dog ;  dog 
will  not  bite  pig  ;  pig  will  not  jump  over  the 
stile;  and  I  shall  not  get  home  to-night." 
But  the  water  would  not.  She  went  a  little 
further,  and  she  met  an  ox.  So  she  said  :  — 

"  Ox  !  ox !  drink  water  !  Water  will  not 
quench  fire ;  fire  will  not  burn  stick ;  stick 
will  not  beat  dog ;  dog  will  not  bite  pig  ;  pig 
will  not  jump  over  the  stile  ;  and  I  shall  not 
get  home  to-night."  But  the  ox  would  not. 
She  went  a  little  further,  and  she  met  a 
butcher.  So  she  said :  — 

"  Butcher  !  butcher  !  kill  ox  !  Ox  will  not 
drink  water  ;  water  will  not  quench  fire  ;  fire 
will  not  burn  stick  ;  stick  will  not  beat  dog  ,* 
dog  will  rot  bite  pig ;  pig  will  not  jump  over 


THE  OLD    WOMAN  AND  HER  PIG.        17 

the  stile  ;  and  I  shall  not  get  home  to-night." 
But  the  butcher  would  not.  She  went  a 
little  further,  and  she  met  a  rope.  So  she 
said  :  — 

"  Rope  !  rope  !  hang  butcher  !  Butcher 
will  not  kill  ox ;  ox  will  not  drink  water ; 
water  will  not  quench  fire ;  fire  will  not  burn 
stick ;  stick  will  not  beat  dog ;  dog  will  not 
bite  pig ;  pig  will  not  jump  over  the  stile ; 
and  I  shall  not  get  home  to-night."  But  the 
rope  would  not.  She  went  a  little  further, 
and  she  met  a  rat.  So  she  said  :  — 

"  Rat !  rat !  gnaw  rope  !  Rope  will  not 
hang  butcher ;  butcher  will  not  kill  ox ;  ox 
will  not  drink  water ;  water  will  not  quench 
fire ;  fire  will  not  burn  stick ;  stick  will  not 
beat  dog  ;  dog  will  not  bite  pig ;  pig  will  not 
jump  over  the  stile ;  and  I  shall  not  get  home 
to-night."  But  the  rat  would  not.  She 
went  a  little  further,  and  met  a  cat.  So  she 
said:  — 

"  Cat !  cat  !  catch  rat !  Rat  will  not  gnaw 
rope ;  rope  will  not  hang  butcher ;  butcher 
will  not  kill  ox;  ox  will  not  drink  water; 
water  will  not  quench  fire ;  fire  will  not  burn 
stick ;  stick  will  not  beat  dog ;  dog  will  not 


18  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

bite  pig ;  pig  will  not  jump  over  the  stile ; 
and  I  shall  not  get  home  to-night."  Then 
the  cat  said  to  her  :  — 

"  If  you  will  go  to  the  cow  and  bring  me 
a  saucer  of  milk,  I  will  catch  the  rat."  So 
away  went  the  old  woman  to  the  cow.  Then 
the  cow  said  to  her  :  — 

"  If  you  will  go  to  the  haystack,  and  bring 
me  a  handful  of  hay,  I  will  give  you  the 
milk."  So  away  went  the  old  woman  to  the 
haystack,  and  she  brought  the  hay  to  the  cow. 

As  soon  as  the  cow  had  eaten  the  hay,  she 
gave  the  old  woman  the  milk.  So  away  went 
the  old  woman  with  a  saucer  of  milk  to  the 
cat. 

As  soon  as  the  cat  had  lapped  the  milk, 
the  cat  began  to  catch  the  rat ;  the  rat  began 
to  gnaw  the  rope ;  the  rope  began  to  hang 
the  butcher;  the  butcher  began  to  kill  the 
ox;  the  ox  began  to  drink  the  water;  the 
water  began  to  quench  the  fire  ;  the  fire  be- 
gan to  burn  the  stick ;  the  stick  began  to 
beat  the  dog ;  the  dog  began  to  bite  the  pig ; 
the  little  pig  in  a  fright  jumped  over  the 
stile ;  and  so  the  old  woman  got  home  that 
night. 


THE  THREE  BEARS.  19 


THE  THREE  BEARS. 

THERE  was  once  a  little  girl,  and  her  name 
was  Silver-hair.  She  liked  to  be  out  of  doors, 
and  one  day  she  went  to  the  wood.  She 
never  had  been  there  before,  and  she  ran 
here,  and  she  ran  there. 

At  last  she  came  to  a  lonely  place  where 
she  saw  a  little  house.  The  door  was  open, 
and  she  walked  in.  No  one  was  at  home,  but 
on  a  table  were  three  bowls  of  porridge. 

The  three  bowls  of  porridge  belonged  to 
three  bears  who  lived  in  the  house.  They 
had  left  the  porridge  to  cool,  and  had  gone 
out  to  take  a  walk. 

Silver-hair  tasted  the  porridge  in  the  lar- 
gest bowl,  and  found  it  too  cold.  That  bowl 
belonged  to  Big  Bear. 

Then  she  tasted  the  porridge  in  the  middle- 
sized  bowl,  and  found  it  too  hot.  That  bowl 
belonged  to  Middle-sized  Bear. 

Then  she  tasted  the  porridge  in  the  small- 
est bowl,  and  found  it  just  right,  and  she  ate 
it  all.  That  bowl  belonged  to  Little  Bear. 

She  went  into  the  parlor,  and  there  were 


20  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

three  chairs.  She  tried  the  largest  chair,  and 
found  it  too  high.  That  chair  belonged  to 
Big  Bear. 

Then  she  tried  the  middle-sized  chair,  and 
found  it  too  broad.  That  chair  belonged  to 
Middle-sized  Bear. 

Then  she  tried  the  smallest  chair  and  found 
it  just  right.  But  she  sat  in  it  so  hard  that 
she  broke  it.  That  chair  belonged  to  Little 
Bear. 

Silver-hair  was  now  very  tired,  and  she 
went  up-stairs  to  the  chamber.  There  were 
three  beds.  She  tried  the  largest  bed,  and 
found  it  too  soft.  That  bed  belonged  to  Big 
Bear. 

Then  she  tried  the  middle-sized  bed,  and 
found  it  too  hard.  That  bed  belonged  to 
Middle-sized  Bear. 

Then  she  tried  the  smallest  bed,  and  found 
it  just  right.  So  she  lay  down  upon  it,  and 
fell  fast  asleep.  That  bed  belonged  to  Little 
Bear. 

Now  the  three  bears  came  home  from  their 
walk.  They  went  to  the  table  to  get  their 
porridge.  Big  Bear  looked  into  his  bowl, 
and  growled :  — 


THE   THREE  BEARS.  21 

"SOMEBODY  HAS  BEEN  TASTING 
MY  PORRIDGE ! " 

Middle-sized  Bear  looked  into  his  bowl,  and 
said :  — 

"SOMEBODY  HAS  BEEN  TASTING  MY  POR- 
RIDGE I" 

Little  Bear  looked  into  his  bowl,  and 
peeped  :  — 

"  SOMEBODY  HAS  BEEN  TASTING  MY  POR- 
RIDGE, AND  HAS  EATEN  IT  ALL  !  " 

Then  they  went  into  the  parlor,  and  Big 
Bear  looked  at  his  chair,  and  growled :  — 

"SOMEBODY  HAS  BEEN  SITTING 
IN  MY  CHAIR !  " 

Middle-sized  Bear  looked  at  his  chair,  and 
said:  — 

"SOMEBODY  HAS  BEEN  SITTING  IN  MY 
CHAIR  ! " 

Little  Bear  looked  at  his  chair,  and 
peeped  :  — 

"SOMEBODY  HAS  BEEN  SITTING  IN  MY 
CHAIR  AND  HAS  BROKEN  IT  ALL  TO  PIECES  !  " 

Then  they  went  up-stairs  to  the  chamber, 
and  Big  Bear  saw  his  bed,  and  growled  :  — 

"SOMEBODY  HAS  BEEN  TUMBLING 
MY  BED ! " 

Middle-sized  Bear  saw  his  bed,  and  said :  — • 


22  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"SOMEBODY  HAS  BEEN  TUMBLING  MY 
BED ! " 

Little  Bear  saw  his  bed,  and  peeped :  — 
"SOMEBODY    HAS     BEEN     TUMBLING     MY 

BED,  AND  HERE  SHE  IS  !  " 

At  that,  Silver-hair  woke  in  a  fright,  and 
jumped  down  and  ran  away  as  fast  as  her 
legs  could  carry  her;  and  she  never  went 
near  the  three  bears'  little  house  again. 


THE  ELVES  AND  THE  SHOEMAKER. 

THERE  was  once  a  shoemaker  who  worked 
very  hard  and  was  honest.  Still,  he  could  not 
earn  enough  to  live  upon,  and  at  last  all  he 
had  in  the  world  was  gone  except  just  leather 
enough  to  make  one  pair  of  shoes.  He  cut 
these  out  at  night,  and  meant  to  get  up  early 
the  next  morning  to  make  them  up. 

His  heart  was  light  amid  all  his  troubles, 
for  his  conscience  was  clear.  So  he  went 
quietly  to  bed?  left  all  his  cares  to  God,  and 
fell  asleep.  In  the  morning  he  said  his  pray- 
ers and  sat  down  to  work,  when,  to  his  great 


THE  ELVES  AND   THE  SHOEMAKER.      23 

wonder,  there  stood  the  shoes,  already  made, 
upon  the  table. 

The  good  man  knew  not  what  to  say  or 
think.  He  looked  at  the  work ;  there  was  not 
one  false  stitch  in  the  whole  job ;  all  was  neat 
and  true. 

'  That  same  day  a  customer  came  in,  and  the 
shoes  pleased  him  so  well  that  he  readily  paid 
a  price  higher  than  usual  for  them.  The 
shoemaker  took  the  money  and  bought  leather 
enough  to  make  two  pairs  more.  He  cut  out 
the  work  in  the  evening  and  went  to  bed 
early.  He  wished  to  be  up  with  the  sun  and 
get  to  work. 

He  was  saved  all  trouble,  for  when  he 
got  up  in  the  morning,  the  work  was  done, 
ready  to  his  hand.  Pretty  soon  buyers  came 
in,  who  paid  him  well  for  his  goods.  So  he 
bought  leather  enough  for  four  pairs  more. 

He  cut  out  the  work  again  over  night,  and 
found  it  finished  in  the  morning  as  before. 
So  it  went  on  for  some  time.  What  was  got 
ready  at  night  was  always  done  by  daybreak, 
and  the  good  man  soon  was  well  to  do. 

One  evening,  at  Christmas  time,  he  and  his 
wife  sat  over  the  fire,  chatting,  and  he  said : 


24  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  I  should  like  to  sit  up  and  watch  to-night, 
that  we  may  see  who  it  is  that  comes  and 
does  my  work  for  me."  The  wife  liked  the 
thought.  So  they  left  a  light  burning,  and 
hid  themselves  behind  a  curtain  to  see  what 
should  happen. 

As  soon  as  it  was  midnight  there  came  two 
little  elves.  They  sat  upon  the  shoemaker's 
bench,  took  up  all  the  work  that  was  cut  out, 
and  began  to  ply  with  their  little  fingers. 
They  stitched  and  rapped  and  tapped  at  such 
a  rate  that  the  shoemaker  was  all  amazement 
and  could  not  take  his  eyes  off  them  for  a 
moment. 

On  they  went  busily  till  the  job  was  quite 
done,  and  the  shoes  stood,  ready  for  use, 
upon  the  table.  This  was  long  before  day- 
break. Then  they  bustled  away  as  quick  as 
lightning.  The  next  day  the  wife  said  to  the 
shoemaker : — 

"  These  little  elves  have  made  us  rich,  and 
we  ought  to  be  thankful  to  them  and  do  them 
some  good  in  return.  I  am  quite  vexed  to  see 
them  run  about  as  they  do.  They  have  noth- 
ing upon  their  backs  to  keep  off  the  cold. 
I  '11  tell  you  what  we  must  do ;  I  will  make 


THE  ELVES  AND   THE  SHOEMAKER.      25 

each  of  them  a  shirt,  and  a  coat  and  waistcoat, 
and  a  pair  of  pantaloons  into  the  bargain. 
Do  you  make  each  of  them  a  little  pair  of 
shoes." 

The  good  shoemaker  liked  the  thought  very 
well.  One  evening,  they  had  the  clothes 
ready,  and  laid  them  on  the  table  instead  of 
the  work  they  used  to  cut  out.  Then  they 
went  and  hid  behind  the  curtain  to  watch 
what  the  little  elves  would  do. 

At  midnight  the  elves  came  in  and  were 
going  to  sit  down  at  their  work  as  usual ;  but 
when  they  saw  the  clothes  lying  there  for 
them,  they  laughed  and  were  in  high  glee. 
Then  they  dressed  themselves  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  and  danced  and  capered  and  sprang 
about  as  merry  as  could  be,  till  at  last  they 
danced  out  of  the  door,  and  over  the  green. 

The  shoemaker  saw  them  no  more,  but 
everything  went  well  with  him  from  that 
time  forward  as  long  as  he  lived. 


26  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

HANS  IN  LUCK. 
I. 

THE    SILVER,  THE    HORSE,  THE   COW,  AND  THE 
PIG. 

HANS  had  served  his  master  seven  years, 
and  at  last  said  to  him :  — 

"  Master,  my  time  is  up  ;  I  should  like  to 
go  home  and  see  my  mother ;  so  give  me  my 
wages."  And  the  master  said  :  — 

"  You  have  been  a  good  and  faithful  ser- 
vant, so  your  pay  shall  be  handsome."  Then 
he  gave  him  a  piece  of  silver  as  big  as  his 
head. 

Hans  took  out  his  handkerchief,  put  the 
piece  of  silver  in  it,  hung  it  over  his  shoulder, 
and  jogged  off  homeward.  As  he  went  lazily 
on,  dragging  one  foot  after  another,  a  man 
came  in  sight,  trotting  along  gayly  on  a  capi- 
tal horse. 

"  Ah  !  "  said  Hans  aloud,  "  what  a  fine 
thing  it  is  to  ride  on  horseback  !  there  he  sits 
as  if  he  were  at  home  in  his  chair ;  he  trips 
against  no  stones,  spares  his  shoes,  and  gets 


HANS  IN  LUCK.  27 

on  he  hardly  knows  how."  The  horseman 
heard  this,  and  said  :  — 

"  Well,  Hans,  why  do  you  go  on  foot 
then?" 

"  Ah,"  said  he,  "  I  have  this  load  to  carry ; 
to  be  sure  it  is  silver,  but  it  is  so  heavy  that 
I  cannot  hold  up  my  head,  and  it  hurts  my 
shoulder  sadly." 

"  What  do  you  say  to  changing?"  asked 
the  horseman.  "  I  will  give  you  my  horse, 
and  you  shall  give  me  your  silver." 

"  With  all  my  heart,"  said  Hans.  "  But  I 
will  tell  you  one  thing  —  you  will  have  a 
weary  task  to  drag  it  along."  The  horseman 
got  off,  took  the  silver,  helped  Hans  up,  put 
the  bridle  into  his  hand,  and  said :  — 

"  When  you  want  to  go  very  fast,  you 
must  smack  your  lips,  and  cry  '  Jip.'  " 

Hans  was  delighted  as  he  sat  on  the  horse 
and  rode  merrily  on.  After  a  time  he  thought 
he  should  like  to  go  a  little  faster,  so  he 
smacked  his  lips,  and  cried  "Jip."  Away 
went  the  horse  full  gallop  ;  Hans  held  on 
tightly,  but  soon  he  was  thrown  off,  and  lay 
in  a  ditch  by  the  roadside.  His  horse  would 
have  run  away,  if  a  cowherd  had  not  stopped 


28  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

it.  Hans  soon  came  to  himself,  and  got  upon 
his  legs  again.  He  was  greatly  vexed,  and 
said  to  the  cowherd  :  — 

"  This  riding  is  no  joke  when  a  man  gets 
on  a  beast  like  this,  that  stumbles  and  flings 
him  off  and  tries  to  break  his  neck.  How- 
ever, I  am  off  now  once  for  all.  I  like  your 
cow  a  great  deal  better.  I  could  walk  along 
at  my  ease  behind  her,  and  have  milk,  but- 
ter, and  cheese  every  day  into  the  bargain. 
What  would  I  give  to  have  such  a  cow  ! " 

"  Well,"  said  the  cowherd,  "  if  you  are  so 
fond  of  her,  I  will  change  my  cow  for  your 
horse." 

"  Done  !  "  said  Hans  merrily.  The  cow- 
herd jumped  upon  the  horse  and  away  he 
rode.  Hans  drove  his  cow  quietly,  and 
thought  his  bargain  a  very  lucky  one. 

"  If  I  have  only  a  piece  of  bread  —  and  I 
certainly  shall  be  able  to  get  that  —  I  can  eat 
my  butter  and  cheese  with  it.  When  I  am 
thirsty  I  can  milk  my  cow  and  drink  the 
milk.  What  can  I  wish  for  more  ?  " 

Now  he  came  to  an  inn ;  he  halted,  and 
gave  away  his  last  penny  for  a  piece  of  bread 
and  ate  it.  Then  he  drove  his  cow  toward 


HANS  IN  LUCK.  29 

the  village  where  his  mother  lived.  The  heat 
grew  greater  as  noon  came  on,  till  at  last  he 
found  himself  on  a  wide  plain  ;  it  would  take 
him  more  than  an  hour  to  cross  the  plain. 
He  began  to  be  so  hot  and  parched  that  his 
tongue  cleaved  to  the  roof  of  his  mouth. 

"  I  can  find  a  cure  for  this,"  thought  he  ; 
"  now  I  will  milk  my  cow  and  quench  my 
thirst."  So  he  tied  her  to  the  stump  of  a 
tree,  and  held  his  leathern  cap  to  milk  into  it ; 
but  not  a  drop  was  to  be  had. 

While  he  was  trying  his  luck  and  doing 
very  ill,  the  uneasy  beast  gave  him  a  kick  on 
the  head ;  the  kick  knocked  him  down,  and 
there  he  lay  a  long  time  senseless.  Luckily  a 
butcher  soon  came  by,  wheeling  a  pig  in  a 
wheelbarrow. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  you?"  asked 
the  butcher,  as  he  helped  him  up.  Hans  told 
him  what  had  happened,  and  the  butcher 
gave  him  some  water. 

"  There,  drink  and  refresh  yourself.  Your 
cow  will  give  you  no  milk;  she  is  an  old 
beast,  fit  only  to  be  killed  and  eaten." 

"  Alas,  alas  !  "  said  Hans.  "  Who  would 
have  thought  it  ?  If  I  kill  her,  what  would 


30  THE  BOOK   OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

she  be  good  for  ?  I  hate  cow-beef ;  it  is  not 
tender  enough  for  me.  If  it  were  a  pig  now, 
I  could  do  something  with  it ;  it  would  at  any 
rate  make  some  sausages." 

"  Well,"  said  the  butcher,  "  to  please  you, 
I  will  change,  and  give  you  the  pig  for  the 
cow." 

"  Heaven  reward  you  for  your  kindness  !  " 
said  Hans,  as  he  gave  the  butcher  the  cow. 
He  took  the  pig  off  the  wheelbarrow,  and 
drove  it  along,  holding  it  by  the  string  that 
was  tied  to  its  leg. 


n. 


THE  PIG,  THE  GOOSE,  THE  GRINDSTONE, 
AND  NOTHING. 

So  on  he  jogged,  and  all  seemed  now  to 
go  well  with  him.  He  had  met  with  some  ill 
lack  to  be  sure,  but  he  was  now  well  repaid. 
The  next  person  he  met  was  a  farmer  carry- 
ing a  fine  white  goose  under  his  arm.  The 
farmer  stopped  to  ask  what  o'clock  it  was, 
and  Hans  told  him  all  his  luck,  and  how 
he  had  made  so  many  good  bargains.  The 


HANS  IN  LUCK.  31 

farmer  said  he  was  going  to  take  the  goose 
to  market. 

"  Feel,"  said  he,  "  how  heavy  it  is,  and 
yet  it  is  only  eight  weeks  old.  Whoever 
roasts  and  eats  it  may  cut  plenty  of  fat  off  it, 
it  has  lived  so  well." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Hans,  as  he  weighed 
the  goose  in  his  hand ;  "  but  my  pig  is  no 
trifle."  Now  the  farmer  began  to  look  grave, 
and  shook  his  head. 

"Hark  ye,  my  good  friend,"  said  he. 
"  Your  pig  may  get  you  into  a  scrape.  In 
the  village  I  just  came  from  the  squire  has 
had  a  pig  stolen  out  of  his  sty.  I  was  very 
much  afraid  when  I  saw  you  that  you  had 
the  squire's  pig.  It  will  be  a  bad  job  if  they 
catch  you ;  the  least  they  will  do  will  be  to 
throw  you  into  the  horse  pond."  Poor  Hans 
was  in  great  fright. 

"  Good  man,"  he  cried,  "  pray  get  me  out 
of  this  scrape.  You  know  the  country  better 
than  I ;  take  my  pig  and  give  me  the  goose." 

"  I  ought  to  have  something  into  the  bar- 
gain," said  the  farmer.  "  However,  I  will 
not  be  hard  upon  you,  since  you  are  in 
trouble."  Then  he  took  the  string  in  his 


32  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

hand,  and  drove  the  pig  away  by  a  side  path, 
while  Hans  went  on,  free  from  care. 

"  After  all,"  thought  Hans,  "  I  have  the 
best  of  the  bargain.  First,  there  will  be  a 
capital  roast ;  then  the  fat  will  keep  me  in 
goose-grease  for  six  months ;  and  there  are 
all  the  soft  white  feathers.  I  will  put  them 
into  my  pillow,  and  then  I  shall  sleep  soundly. 
How  happy  my  mother  will  be  !  " 

As  he  came  to  the  last  village  on  the  way, 
he  saw  a  scissors-grinder  with  his  wheel,  work- 
ing away  and  singing  merrily.  Hans  stood 
by  looking  on  for  a  while,  and  at  last  said :  — 

"You  must  be  well  off,  master  grinder, 
you  seem  so  happy  at  your  work." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  other ;  "  mine  is  a  golden 
trade ;  a  good  grinder  never  puts  his  hand 
into  his  pocket  without  finding  money.  But 
where  did  you  get  that  beautiful  goose  ?  " 

"  I  did  not  buy  it,  but  changed  a  pig  for 
it." 

"  And  where  did  you  get  the  pig  ?  " 

"  I  gave  a  cow  for  it." 

"  And  the  cow  ?  " 

"  I  gave  a  horse  for  it." 

"And  the  horse?" 


HANS  IN  LUCK.  33 

"  I  gave  a  piece  of  silver  as  big  as  my  head 
for  that." 

"And  the  silver?" 

"Oh,  I  worked  hard  for  that  for  seven 
long  years." 

"  You  have  done  well  so  far,"  said  the 
grinder.  "  Now  if  you  could  find  money  in 
your  pocket  whenever  you  put  your  hand  into 
it,  your  fortune  would  be  made." 

"  Very  true ;  but  how  is  that  to  be  brought 
about?" 

"  You  must  turn  grinder  like  me.  You 
only  want  a  grindstone ;  the  rest  will  come  of 
itself.  Here  is  one  that  is  a  little  the  worse 
for  wear ;  I  would  not  ask  more  than  your 
goose  for  it ;  —  will  you  buy  ?  " 

"  How  can  you  ask  such  a  question  ?  "  re- 
plied Hans ;  "  I  should  be  the  happiest  fel- 
low in  the  world,  if  I  could  have  money  when- 
ever I  put  my  hand  into  my  pocket.  What 
could  I  want  more  ?  There  is  the  goose  !  " 

"  Now,"  said  the  grinder,  as  he  gave  him 
a  common  rough  stone  that  lay  by  his  side, 
"  this  is  a  capital  stone  ;  only  use  it  cleverly, 
and  you  can  make  an  old  nail  cut  with  it." 
Hans  took  the  stone,  and  went  off  with  a  light 


84  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

heart.  His  eyes  shone  for  joy,  and  he  said  to 
himself :  — 

"  I  must  have  been  horn  in  a  lucky  hour. 
Everything  I  want  or  wish  for  comes  to  me  of 
itself." 

Now  Hans  began  to  be  tired,  for  he  had 
been  travelling  ever  since  daybreak.  He  was 
hungry,  too,  for  he  had  spent  his  last  penny. 
At  last  he  could  go  no  further,  for  the  stone 
was  very  heavy.  He  dragged  himself  to  the 
side  of  a  pond ;  there  he  meant  to  drink  some 
water  and  rest  a  while.  He  laid  the  stone 
carefully  by  his  side  on  the  bank,  and  stooped 
to  drink  ;  but  he  forgot  the  stone  and  pushed 
it  a  little  ;  down  it  went  plump  into  the  pond. 

For  a  while  he  watched  it  in  the  deep  clear 
water  ;  then  he  sprang  up  for  joy,  and  again 
fell  on  his  knees  and  thanked  heaven  with 
tears  in  his  eyes  for  taking  away  his  only 
plague,  the  ugly  heavy  stone. 

"  How  happy  I  am  !  "  he  cried.  "  Surely 
no  mortal  was  ever  so  lucky  as  I  am."  Then 
he  got  up  with  a  light  and  merry  heart,  and 
walked  on,  free  from  all  his  troubles,  till  he 
reached  his  mother's  house. 


LITTLE  EYES.  35 


LITTLE  ONE  EYE,  LITTLE  TWO  EYES,  AND 
LITTLE  THREE  EYES. 


THE    GOAT. 

THERE  was  once  a  woman  who  had  three 
daughters.  The  eldest  was  called  Little  One 
Eye,  because  she  had  only  one  eye  in  the 
middle  of  her  forehead.  The  second  was 
called  Little  Two  Eyes,  because  she  had  two 
eyes  like  other  people.  The  youngest  was 
called  Little  Three  Eyes,  because  she  had 
three  eyes;  the  third  eye  was  also  in  the 
middle  of  her  forehead. 

Because  Little  Two  Eyes  looked  like  other 
people,  her  sisters  and  her  mother  could  not 
bear  her.  They  said  :  — 

"  You  have  two  eyes  and  are  no  better  than 
anybody  else.  You  do  not  belong  to  us." 
They  knocked  her  about,  and  gave  her 
shabby  clothes,  and  fed  her  with  food  left 
over  from  their  meals ;  in  short,  they  vexed 
her  whenever  they  could. 


86  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

One  day  Little  Two  Eyes  was  sent  into  the 
fields  to  look  after  the  goat.  She  was  quite 
hungry,  because  her  sisters  had  given  her  so 
little  to  eat,  and  she  sat  down  and  began  to 
cry.  She  cried  so  hard  that  a  little  stream 
of  tears  ran  out  of  each  eye.  All  at  once 
a  wise  woman  stood  near  her,  and  asked  :  — 

"Little  Two  Eyes,  why  do  you  cry?" 
Little  Two  Eyes  said  :  — 

"  Have  I  not  need  to  cry  ?  Because  I  have 
two  eyes,  like  other  people,  my  sisters  and 
my  mother  cannot  bear  me.  They  knock  me 
about ;  they  give  me  shabby  clothes ;  and 
they  feed  me  only  with  the  food  left  over 
from  their  table.  To-day  they  have  given  me 
so  little  that  I  am  quite  hungry."  The  wise 
woman  said  :  — 

"  Little  Two  Eyes,  dry  your  eyes,  and  I 
will  tell  you  what  to  do.  Only  say  to  your 
goat :  '  Little  goat,  bleat ;  little  table,  rise/ 
and  a  neatly-laid  table  will  stand  before  you, 
covered  with  food.  Eat  as  much  as  you  like. 
When  you  have  had  all  you  want,  only  say  : 
*  Little  goat,  bleat ;  little  table,  away,'  and  it 
will  be  gone."  Then  the  wise  woman  disap- 
peared. Little  Two  Eyes  thought :  — 


LITTLE  EYES.  37 

"  I  must  try  at  once,  for  I  am  much  too 
hungry  to  wait."  So  she  said :  — 

"  Little  goat,  bleat ;  little  table,  rise."  In 
a  twinkling  there  stood  before  her  a  little 
table  covered  with  a  white  cloth.  On  it  were 
laid  a  plate,  knife  and  fork,  and  silver  spoon. 
The  nicest  food  was  on  the  plate,  smoking 
hot.  Then  Little  Two  Eyes  began  to  eat,  and 
found  the  food  very  good.  When  she  had 
had  enough,  she  said  :  — 

"Little  goat,  bleat;  little  table,  away." 
In  an  instant  the  table  was  gone. 

"  That  is  a  fine  way  to  keep  house," 
thought  Little  Two  Eyes,  and  she  was  quite 
merry. 

At  the  end  of  the  day  Little  Two  Eyes 
drove  her  goat  home.  She  found  a  dish  with 
some  food  in  it ;  her  sisters  had  put  it  aside 
for  her  from  their  table,  but  she  did  not  taste 
it.  She  did  not  need  it. 

The  next  day  she  went  out  again  with  her 
goat,  and  did  not  take  the  few  crusts  which 
her  sisters  put  aside  for  her.  This  went  on 
for  several  days.  At  last  her  sisters  said  to 
each  other :  — 

"All  is  not  right  with  Little  Two  Eyes. 


88  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

She  always  leaves  her  food ;  she  used  to  eat 
all  that  was  given  her  ;  she  must  have  found 
some  other  way  to  be  fed." 

They  meant  to  find  out  what  Little  Two 
Eyes  did.  So  the  next  time  that  Little  Two 
Eyes  set  out,  Little  One  Eye  came  to  her  and 
said :  — 

"  I  will  go  with  you  into  the  field,  and  see 
that  the  goat  is  well  taken  care  of,  and  feeds 
in  the  best  pasture."  But  Little  Two  Eyes 
saw  what  Little  One  Eye  had  in  her  mind. 
So  she  drove  the  goat  into  the  long  grass,  and 
said :  — 

"  Come,  Little  One  Eye,  we  will  sit  down, 
and  I  will  sing  to  you."  Little  One  Eye  sat 
down  ;  she  was  tired  after  her  long  walk  in 
the  hot  sun,  and  Little  Two  Eyes  began  to 
sing :  — 

"  Are  you  awake,  Little  One  Eye  ?  Are  you 
asleep,  Little  One  Eye?  Are  you  awake, 
Little  One  Eye  ?  Are  you  asleep,  Little  One 
Eye  ?  Are  you  awake  ?  Are  you  asleep  ? 
Awake  ?  Asleep  ?  "  By  this  time  Little  One 
Eye  had  shut  her  one  eye  and  was  fast  asleep. 
When  Little  Two  Eyes  saw  this,  she  said 
softly :  — 


LITTLE  EYES.  39 

"  Little  goat,  bleat:  little  table,  rise  ; "  and 
she  sat  at  the  table  and  ate  and  drank  till  she 
had  had  enough.  Then  she  said,  as  before  :  — 

"Little  goat,  bleat;  little  table,  away," 
and  in  a  twinkling  all  was  gone. 

Little  Two  Eyes  now  woke  Little  One  Eye, 
and  said  :  — 

"  Little  One  Eye,  why  do  you  not  watch  ? 
You  have  been  asleep,  and  the  goat  could 
have  run  all  over  the  world.  Come  !  let  us 
go  home."  So  home  they  went,  and  Little 
Two  Eyes  again  did  not  touch  the  dish.  The 
others  asked  Little  One  Eye  what  Little  Two 
Eyes  did  in  the  field.  But  she  could  only 
say:  — 

"  Oh,  I  feU  asleep  out  there." 

n. 

THE     TREE. 

THE  next  day,  the  mother  said  to  Little 
Three  Eyes :  — 

"  This  time  you  must  go  with  Little  Two 
Eyes,  and  see  if  any  one  brings  her  food  and 
drink."  Then  Little  Three  Eyes  said  to 
I.^tle  Two  Eyes  :  — 


40  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  I  will  go  with  you  into  the  field,  and  see 
that  the  goat  is  well  taken  care  of,  and  feeds 
in  the  best  pasture."  But  Little  Two  Eyes 
saw  what  Little  Three  Eyes  had  in  her  mind. 
So  she  drove  the  goat  into  the  long  grass,  and 
said :  — 

"  Come,  Little  Three  Eyes,  we  will  sit  down, 
and  I  will  sing  to  you."  Little  Three  Eyes 
sat  down  ;  she  was  tired  after  her  long  walk 
in  the  hot  sun,  and  Little  Two  Eyes  began  to 
sing,  as  before  :  — 

"  Are  you  awake,  Little  Three  Eyes  ?  "  but 
instead  of  going  on,  — 

"  Are  you  asleep,  Little  Three  Eyes  ?  "  she 
did  not  think,  and  sang :  —  • 

"  Are  you  asleep,  Little  Two  Eyes  ?  "  and 
went  on :  — 

"  Are  you  awake,  Little  Three  Eyes  ?  Are 
you  asleep,  Little  Two  Eyes  ?  Are  you  awake  ? 
are  you  asleep  ?  Awake  ?  Asleep  ?  "  By  this 
time  the  two  eyes  of  Little  Three  Eyes  fell 
asleep,  but  the  third  eye  did  not  go  to  sleep, 
for  it  was  not  spoken  to  by  the  verse.  Little 
Three  Eyes,  to  be  sure,  shut  it,  and  made  be- 
lieve that  it  went  to  sleep.  Then  she  opened 
it  a  little  way  and  watched  Little  Two  Eyes. 


LITTLE  EYES.  41 

When  Little  Two  Eyes  thought  Little  Three 
Eyes  was  fast  asleep,  she  said  softly :  — 

"  Little  goat,  bleat ;  little  table,  rise ;  "  and 
she  sat  at  the  table  and  ate  and  drank  till  she 
had  had  enough.  Then  she  said  as  before  :  — 

"Little  goat,  bleat;  little  table,  away." 
But  Little  Three  Eyes  had  seen  everything. 
Little  Two  Eyes  now  woke  Little  Three  Eyes, 
and  said :  — 

"  Little  Three  Eyes,  why  do  you  not  watch  ? 
You  have  been  asleep,  and  the  goat  could 
have  run  all  over  the  world.  Come  !  let  us 
go  home."  So  home  they  went,  and  Little 
Two  Eyes  again  did  not  touch  the  dish.  Then 
Little  Three  Eyes  said  to  the  mother  :  — 

"  I  know  why  the  proud  thing  does  not 
eat.  She  says  to  the  goat :  '  Little  goat, 
bleat ;  little  table,  rise,'  and  there  stands  a 
table  before  her.  It  is  covered  with  the  very 
best  of  things  to  eat,  much  better  than  any- 
thing we  have.  When  she  has  had  enough 
to  eat,  she  says :  '  Little  goat,  bleat ;  little 
table,  away,'  and  all  is  gone.  I  have  seen  it 
just  as  it  is.  She  put  two  of  my  eyes  to  sleep 
with  a  song,  but  the  one  in  my  forehead 
stayed  awake."  Then  the  mother  cried  out : 


42  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"Shall  she  be  better  off  than  we  are?" 
With  that  she  took  a  knife  and  killed  the 
goat.  Poor  Little  Two  Eyes  went  to  the  field, 
and  sat  down  and  began  to  cry.  All  at  once 
the  wise  woman  stood  near  her,  and  asked :  — 

"  Little  Two  Eyes,  why  do  you  cry  ?  "  Lit- 
tle Two  Eyes  said :  — 

"  Have  I  not  need  to  cry  ?  My  mother  has 
killed  the  goat.  Now  I  must  suffer  hunger 
and  thirst  again."  The  wise  woman  said :  — 

"  Little  Two  Eyes,  dry  your  eyes,  and  I 
will  tell  you  what  to  do.  Beg  your  sisters  to 
give  you  the  heart  of  the  goat.  Then  bury  it 
in  the  ground  before  the  door  of  the  house. 
All  will  go  well  with  you."  Then  the  wise 
woman  was  gone,  and  Little  Two  Eyes  went 
home  and  said  to  her  sisters :  — 

"  Sisters,  give  me  some  part  of  my  goat. 
I  do  not  ask  for  anything  but  the  heart." 
They  laughed,  and  said :  — 

"  You  can  have  that,  if  you  do  not  want 
anything  else."  Little  Two  Eyes  took  the 
heart  and  buried  it  in  the  ground  before  the 
door  of  the  house. 

Next  morning  the  sisters  woke  and  saw  a 
splendid  tree  in  front  of  the  house.  It  had 


LITTLE  EYES.  43 

leaves  of  silver  and  fruit  of  gold.  It  was 
wonderful  to  behold;  and  they  could  not 
think  how  the  tree  had  come  there  in  the 
night.  Only  Little  Two  Eyes  saw  that  the 
tree  had  grown  out  of  the  heart  of  the 
goat.  Then  the  mother  said  to  Little  One 
Eye:  — 

"  Climb  up,  my  child,  and  pluck  some  fruit 
from  the  tree."  Little  One  Eye  climbed  the 
tree.  She  put  out  her  hand  to  take  a  golden 
apple,  but  the  branch  sprang  back.  This 
took  place  every  time.  Try  as  hard  as  she 
could,  she  could  not  get  a  single  apple.  Then 
the  mother  said  :  — 

"  Little  Three  Eyes,  do  you  climb  up.  You 
can  see  better  with  your  three  eyes  than  Lit- 
tle One  Eye  can."  Down  came  Little  One 
Eye,  and  Little  Three  Eyes  climbed  the  tree. 
But  it  was  with  her  just  as  it  had  been  with 
Little  One  Eye.  She  put  out  her  hand,  and 
the  branch  sprang  back.  At  last  the  mother 
tried,  but  it  was  the  same  with  her.  She 
could  not  get  a  single  apple.  Then  Little 
Two  Eyes  said  :  — 

"  Let  me  try." 

"  You  !  "  they  all  cried.     "  You,  with  your 


44  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

two  eyes  like  other  people  !  What  can  you 
do  ?  "  But  Little  Two  Eyes  climbed  the  tree, 
and  the  branch  did  not  spring  back.  The 
golden  apples  dropped  into  her  hands,  and 
she  brought  down  her  apron  full  of  them. 
Her  mother  took  them  away  from  her,  and 
her  two  sisters  were  angry  because  they  had 
failed,  and  they  were  more  cruel  than  ever  to 
Little  Two  Eyes. 


in. 

THE   PRINCE. 

WHILE  they  stood  by  the  tree,  the  Prince 
came  riding  near  on  a  fine  horse. 

"  Quick,  Little  Two  Eyes,"  said  her  sisters, 
lt  creep  under  this  cask ;  we  are  ashamed  of 
you ; "  and  they  threw  an  empty  cask  over 
her,  and  pushed  the  golden  apples  under  it. 
The  Prince  rode  up  and  gazed  at  the  splendid 
tree. 

"  Is  this  splendid  tree  yours  ? "  he  asked 
of  the  sisters.  "  If  you  will  give  me  a  branch 
from  it,  I  will  give  you  anything  you  wish." 
Then  Little  One  Eye  and  Little  Three  Eyes 


LITTLE  EYES.  45 

said  the  tree  was  theirs,  and  they  would  break 
off  a  branch  for  him.  They  put  out  their 
hands,  but  again  the  branches  sprang  back. 
Then  the  Prince  said  :  — 

"  This  is  very  strange.  The  tree  is  yours, 
and  yet  you  cannot  pluck  the  fruit." 

They  kept  on  saying  that  the  tree  was 
theirs,  but  while  they  were  saying  this,  Little 
Two  Eyes  rolled  a  few  of  the  apples  out  from 
under  the  cask.  The  Prince  saw  them,  and 
asked :  — 

"  Why !  where  did  these  golden  apples  come 
from?  Who  is  under  the  cask  ? "  Little  One 
Eye  and  Little  Three  Eyes  told  the  Prince 
that  they  had  a  sister. 

"But  she  does  not  show  herself,"  they 
said.  "  She  is  just  like  other  people.  She 
has  two  eyes."  Then  the  Prince  called :  — 

"  Little  Two  Eyes !  come  out ! "  So  Little 
Two  Eyes  was  very  glad  and  crept  out  from 
under  the  cask. 

"  Can  you  get  me  a  branch  from  the 
tree?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Little  Two  Eyes,  "  I  can,  for 
the  tree  is  mine."  Then  she  climbed  the 
tree  and  broke  off  a  branch.  It  had  silver 


46  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

leaves  and  golden  fruit,  and  she  gave  it  to 
the  Prince.  Then  the  Prince  said  :  — 

"  Little  Two  Eyes,  what  shall  I  give  you 
for  it?" 

"Oh,"  said  Little  Two  Eyes,  "I  suffer 
hunger  and  thirst  all  day  long.  If  you  would 
take  me  with  you,  I  should  be  happy." 

So  the  Prince  lifted  Little  Two  Eyes  upon 
his  horse,  and  they  rode  away.  He  took  her 
to  his  father's  house  and  made  her  Princess, 
and  she  had  plenty  to  eat  and  drink,  and 
good  clothes  to  wear.  Best  of  all,  the  Prince 
loved  her,  and  she  had  no  more  hard  knocks 
and  cross  words. 

Now,  when  Little  Two  Eyes  rode  away  with 
the  Prince,  the  sisters  said  :  — 

"  "Well,  we  shall  have  the  tree.  We  may 
not  pluck  the  fruit,  but  every  one  will  stop  to 
see  it  and  come  tc  us  and  praise  it."  The 
next  morning  they  went  to  look  at  the  tree, 
and  it  was  gone. 

Little  Two  Eyes  lived  long  and  happily. 
One  day,  two  poor  women  came  to  her,  and 
asked  for  something  to  eat.  Little  Two  Eyes 
looked  at  their  faces  and  knew  them.  They 
were  Little  One  Eye  and  Little  Three  Eyes. 


PUSS  IN  BOOTS.  47 

They  were  so  poor  that  they  were  begging 
bread  from  door  to  door.  Little  Two  Eyes 
brought  them  into  the  house  and  was  very 
good  to  them.  Then  they  both  were  sorry 
for  the  evil  they  had  once  done  their  sister. 


PUSS  IN  BOOTS. 
I. 

PUSS   GOES    A-HUNTING. 

THERE  was  once  an  old  miller,  and  when  he 
came  to  die  he  left  nothing  to  his  three  sons 
except  his  mill,  an  ass,  and  a  cat.  The  eldest 
son  took  the  mill,  the  second  son  took  the 
ass,  and  so  the  cat  fell  to  the  youngest.  This 
poor  fellow  looked  very  sober,  and  said :  — 

"  What  am  I  to  do  ?  My  brothers  can  take 
care  of  themselves  with  a  mill  and  an  ass ; 
but  I  can  only  eat  the  cat  and  sell  his  skin. 
Then  what  will  be  left?  I  shall  die  of 
hunger."  The  cat  heard  these  words  and 
looked  up  at  his  master. 


48  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"Do  not  be  troubled,"  he  said.  "Only 
give  me  a  bag  and  get  me  a  pair  of  boots, 
and  I  will  soon  show  you  what  I  can  do." 

The  young  man  did  not  see  what  the  cat 
could  do,  but  he  knew  he  could  do  many 
strange  things.  He  had  seen  him  hang  stiff 
by  his  hind  legs  as  if  he  were  dead  ;  he  had 
seen  him  hide  himself  in  the  meal  tub.  Oh ! 
the  cat  was  a  wise  one !  Besides,  what  else 
was  there  for  the  young  man  to  do  ? 

So  he  got  for  the  cat  a  bag  and  a  pair  of 
boots.  Puss  drew  on  the  boots  and  hung  the 
bag  about  his  neck.  Then  he  took  hold  of 
the  two  strings  of  the  bag  with  his  fore  paws 
and  set  off  for  a  place  where  there  were  some 
rabbits. 

He  filled  his  bag  with  bran  and  left  the 
mouth  of  the  bag  open.  Then  he  lay  down, 
shut  his  eyes,  and  seemed  to  be  sound  asleep. 
Soon  a  young  rabbit  smelled  the  bran  and  saw 
the  open  bag.  He  went  headlong  into  it, 
and  at  once  the  cat  drew  the  strings  and 
caught  the  rabbit. 

Puss  now  went  to  the  palace,  and  asked  to 
speak  to  the  king.  So  he  was  brought  before 
the  king,  and  he  made  a  low  bow  and  said  :  — 


PUSS  IN  BOOTS.  49 

"  Sire,  this  is  a  rabbit  which  my  master 
bade  me  bring  to  you." 

"  And  who  is  your  master  ?  " 

"  He  is  the  Marquis  of  Carabas,"  said  the 
cat,  bowing  low.  This  was  a  title  which  Puss 
took  it  into  his  head  to  give  his  master. 

"  Tell  your  master  that  I  accept  his  gift," 
said  the  king,  and  Puss  went  off  in  his  boots. 

In  a  few  days  he  hid  himself  with  his  basr  in 

. 

a  cornfield.  This  time  he  caught  two  par- 
tridges, and  carried  them  as  before  to  the 
king.  The  king  sent  his  thanks  to  the 
Marquis  of  Carabas,  and  made  a  present  to 
Puss. 

So  things  went  on  for  some  time.  Every 
week  Puss  brought  some  game  to  the  king, 
and  the  king  began  to  think  the  Marquis  of 
Carabas  a  famous  hunter.  Now  it  chanced 
that  the  king  and  his  daughter  were  about  to 
take  a  drive  along  the  banks  of  a  river. 
Puss  heard  of  it  and  went  to  his  master. 

"  Master,"  said  he,  "  do  just  as  I  tell  you, 
and  your  fortune  will  be  made.  You  need 
only  go  and  bathe  in  the  river  at  a  spot  I 
shall  point  out,  and  leave  the  rest  to  me." 

"  Very  well,"  said  his  master.     He  did  as 


50  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

the  cat  told  him,  but  he  did  not  know  what 
it  all  meant.  While  he  was  in  the  river,  the 
king  and  the  princess  drove  by.  Puss  jumped 
out  of  the  bushes  and  began  to  bawl :  — 

"  Help !  help  !  the  Marquis  of  Carabas  is 
drowning  !  save  him  !  "  The  king  heard 
and  looked  out  of  his  carriage.  There  he 
saw  the  cat  that  had  brought  him  so  much 
game,  and  he  bade  his  men  run  to  help  the 
Marquis.  When  he  was  out  of  the  river, 
Puss  came  forward,  and  told  what  had  hap- 
pened. 

"  My  master  was  bathing  and  some  robbers 
came  and  stole  his  clothes.  I  ran  after  them 
and  cried  '  stop  thief  ! '  but  they  got  away. 
Then  my  master  was  carried  beyond  his  depth 
and  would  have  drowned  if  you  had  not  come 
by  with  your  men." 

At  this  the  king  bade  one  of  his  servants 
ride  back  and  bring  a  fine  suit  of  clothes  for 
the  Marquis,  and  they  all  waited.  So,  at  last, 
the  Marquis  of  Carabas  came  up  to  the 
carriage  dressed  much  more  finely  than  he 
ever  had  been  in  his  life.  He  was  a  hand- 
some fellow,  and  he  looked  so  well  that  the 
king  at  once  bade  him  enter  the  carriage. 


PUSS  IN  BOOTS.  51 

II. 
PUSS    AND   THE    LION. 

Puss  now  had  things  quite  to  his  mind. 
He  ran  on  before  and  came  to  a  meadow, 
where  some  men  were  mowing  grass.  He 
stopped  before  them,  and  said  :  — 

"  I  say,  good  folks,  the  king  is  coming  this 
way.  You  must  tell  him  that  this  field  be- 
longs to  the  Marquis  of  Carabas,  or  you  shall 
all  be  chopped  as  fine  as  mince-meat."  When 
the  carriage  came  by,  the  king  put  his  head 
out,  and  said  to  the  men  :  — 

"  This  is  good  grass  land.     Who  owns  it  ?  " 

"  The  Marquis  of  Carabas,"  they  all  said, 
for  Puss  had  thrown  them  into  a  great  fright. 

"You  have  a  fine  estate,  Marquis,"  said 
the  king. 

"  Yes,  Sire,"  he  replied,  tossing  his  head ; 
"  it  pays  me  well."  Puss  still  ran  before  the 
carriage  and  came  soon  to  some  reapers. 

"I  say,"  he  cried,  "mind  you  tell  the 
king  that  all  this  grain  belongs  to  the  Marquis 
of  Carabas,  or  you  shall  all  be  chopped  as  fine 
as  mince-meat."  The  king  now  came  by  and 


52     THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

asked  the  reapers  who  owned  the  grain  they 
were  cutting. 

"  The  Marquis  of  Carabas,"  they  said.  So 
it  went  on.  Puss  bade  the  men  in  the  fields 
call  the  Marquis  of  Carabas  their  lord,  or  it 
would  go  hard  with  them.  The  king  was 
amazed.  The  marquis  took  it  all  with  a 
grand  air,  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that  he  was 
a  very  rich  and  great  man  indeed.  The 
princess  sat  in  the  corner  of  the  carriage  and 
thought  the  marquis  no  mean  fellow. 

At  last  they  drew  near  the  castle  of  the 
one  who  really  owned  all  the  fields  they  had 
passed  through.  Puss  asked  about  him  and 
found  he  was  a  monster  who  made  every  one 
about  him  very  much  afraid.  Puss  sent  in 
word  that  he  should  like  to  pay  his  respects, 
and  the  monster  bade  him  come  in. 

"  I  have  been  told,"  said  Puss,  "  that  you 
can  change  yourself  into  any  kind  of  animal. 
They  say  you  can  even  make  yourself  a  lion." 

"To  be  sure  I  can,"  said  the  monster, 
sharply.  "  Do  you  not  believe  it  ?  Look,  and 
you  shall  see  me  become  a  lion  at  once." 
When  Puss  saw  a  lion  before  him,  he  was 
thrown  into  a  great  fright,  and  got  as  far 


PUSS  IN  BOOTS.  63 

away  as  he  could.  There  he  stayed  till  the 
lion  became  a  monster  again. 

"  That  was  dreadful !  "  said  Puss.  « I  was 
nearly  dead  with  fear.  But  it  must  be  much 
harder  to  make  yourself  small.  They  do  say 
that  you  can  turn  into  a  mouse,  but  I  do  not 
believe  it."" 

"  Not  believe  it !  "  cried  the  monster.  "  You 
shall  see  !  "  So  he  made  himself  at  once 
into  a  mouse,  and  began  running  over  the 
floor.  In  a  twinkling  Puss  pounced  upon 
him  and  gave  him  one  shake.  That  was  the 
end  of  the  monster. 

By  this  time  the  king  had  reached  the 
gates  of  the  castle,  and  thought  he  would  like 
to  see  so  fine  a  place.  Puss  heard  the  wheels 
and  ran  down  just  as  the  king  drove  up  to 
the  door. 

"  Welcome !  "  he  said,  as  he  stood  on  the 
steps  of  the  castle.  "  Welcome  to  the  castle 
of  the  Marquis  of  Carabas  !  " 

"  What !  my  lord  Marquis,"  said  the  king, 
u  does  this  castle,  too,  belong  to  you  ?  I 
never  saw  anything  so  fine.  I  should  really 
like  to  enter." 

"  Your   majesty   is    welcome ! "    said    the 


54  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

young  man,  bowing  low,  taking  off  the  cap 
which  the  king  had  given  him.  Then  he 
gave  his  hand  to  the  princess,  and  they  went 
up  the  steps.  Puss  danced  before  them  in 
his  boots. 

They  came  into  a  great  hall,  and  there  they 
found  a  feast  spread.  The  monster  had 
asked  some  friends  to  dine  with  him  that  day, 
but  the  news  went  about  that  the  king  was  at 
the  castle,  and  so  they  dared  not  go. 

The  king  was  amazed  at  all  he  saw,  and 
the  princess  went  behind  him,  just  as  much 
pleased.  The  Marquis  of  Carabas  said  little. 
He  held  his  head  high  and  played  with  his 
sword. 

When  dinner  was  over,  the  king  took  the 
marquis  one  side,  and  said  :  — 

"  You  have  only  to  say  the  word,  my  lord 
Marquis,  and  you  shall  be  the  son-in-law  of 
your  king." 

So  the  marquis  married  the  princess,  and 
Puss  in  Boots  became  a  great  lord,  and  hunted 
mice  for  mere  sport,  just  when  he  pleased. 


CINDERELLA  ;  OR  THE  GLASS  SLIPPER.    55 

CINDERELLA;  OB  THE  GLASS   SLIPPER 

I. 
CINDERELLA   IN   THE   KITCHEN. 

ONCE  upon  a  time  there  lived  a  man  and 
his  wife  and  one  beautiful  daughter.  The 
wife  fell  sick  and  died,  and  some  time  after 
the  father  married  again,  for  he  needed  some 
one  to  take  care  of  his  child.  The  new  wife 
appeared  very  well  before  the  wedding,  but 
afterward  she  showed  a  bad  temper.  She  had 
two  children  of  her  own,  and  they  were  proud 
and  unkind  like  their  mother.  They  could 
not  bear  their  gentle  sister,  and  they  made 
her  do  all  the  hard  work. 

She  washed  the  dishes,  and  scrubbed  the 
stairs ;  she  swept  the  floor  in  my  lady's  cham- 
ber, and  took  care  of  the  rooms  of  the  two 
pert  misses.  They  slept  on  soft  beds  in  fine 
rooms,  and  had  tall  looking-glasses,  so  that 
they  could  admire  themselves  from  top  to 
toe;  she  lay  on  an  old  straw  sack  in  the 
garret. 

She  bore  all  this  without  complaint.     She 


56  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

did  her  work  and  then  sat  in  the  corner 
among  the  ashes  and  cinders.  So  her  two 
sisters  gave  her  the  name  of  Cinderella,  or  the 
cinder-maid.  But  for  all  her  shabby  dress, 
Cinderella  was  really  much  more  beautiful 
than  they  ;  and  she  surely  was  more  lovely. 

Now  the  king's  son  gave  a  ball,  and  he  in- 
vited all  the  rich  and  the  grand.  Cinderella's 
two  sisters  were  fine  ladies ;  they  were  to  go 
to  the  ball.  Perhaps  they  would  even  dance 
with  the  prince.  So  they  had  new  gowns 
made,  and  they  looked  over  all  their  finery. 

Here  was  fresh  work  for  poor  Cinderella. 
She  must  starch  their  ruffles  and  iron  their 
linen.  All  day  long  they  talked  of  nothing 
but  their  fine  clothes. 

"  I  shall  wear  my  red  velvet  dress,"  said 
the  elder,  "  and  trim  it  with  my  point  lace." 

"  And  I,"  said  the  younger  sister,  "  shall 
wear  a  silk  gown,  but  I  shall  wear  over  it  a 
gold  brocade,  and  I  shall  put  on  my  diamonds. 
You  have  nothing  so  fine." 

Then  they  began  to  quarrel  over  their 
clothes,  and  Cinderella  tried  to  make  peace 
between  them.  She  had  good  taste,  so  she 
helped  them  about  their  dresses,  and  offered 
to  arrange  their  hair  on  the  night  of  the  ball. 


CINDERELLA  ;  OR  THE  GLASS  SLIPPER.    57 

While  she  was  thus  busy,  the  sisters  said 
to  her  :  — 

"  And  pray,  Cinderella,  would  you  like  to 
go  to  the  ball?" 

"  Nay,"  said  the  poor  girl ;  "  you  are  mock- 
ing me.  It  is  not  for  such  as  I  to  go  to 
balls." 

"True  enough,"  they  said  with  a  jeer. 
"  Folks  would  laugh  to  see  a  cinder-maid  at 
a  court  bah1." 

Any  one  else  would  have  dressed  their  hair 
ill  to  spite  them  for  their  rudeness.  But  Cin- 
derella was  good-natured,  and  only  took  more 
pains  to  make  them  look  well. 

The  two  sisters  scarcely  ate  a  morsel  for 
two  days  before  the  ball.  Indeed  it  was  not 
very  easy  for  them  to  eat  much,  they  had 
laced  themselves  so  tightly.  They  wished  to 
look  thin  and  graceful.  They  lost  their  tem- 
pers over  and  over,  and  they  spent  most  of 
the  time  before  their  tall  glasses.  There  they 
turned  and  turned  to  see  how  they  looked 
behind,  and  how  their  long  trains  hung. 

At  last  the  evening  came,  and  off  they  set? 
in  a  coach.  Cinderella  watched  them  till  they 
were  out  of  sight,  and  then  she  sat  down  by 
the  kitchen  fire  and  began  to  weep. 


58  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

All  at  once  her  fairy  godmother  appeared, 
with  her  wand. 

"  What  are  you  crying  for,  my  little 
maid?" 

"I  wish  —  I  wish,"  began  the  poor  girl, 
but  her  voice  was  choked  with  tears. 

"You  wish  that  you  could  go  to  the 
ball?" 

Cinderella  nodded. 

"  Well,  then,  if  you  will  be  a  good  girl, 
you  shall  go.  Run  quick  and  fetch  me  a 
pumpkin  from  the  garden." 

Cinderella  flew  to  the  garden  and  brought 
back  the  finest  pumpkin  she  could  find.  She 
could  not  guess  what  use  it  would  be,  but  the 
fairy  scooped  it  hoUow,  and  then  touched  it 
with  her  wand.  The  pumpkin  became  at  once 
a  splendid  gilt  coach. 

"  Now  fetch  me  the  mouse-trap  from  the 
pantry." 

In  the  mouse-trap  were  six  sleek  mice. 
The  fairy  opened  the  door,  and  as  they  ran 
out  she  touched  each  with  her  wand,  and 
it  became  a  gray  horse.  But  what  was  she 
to  do  for  a  coachman  ? 

"We  might  look  for  a  rat  in  the  rat-trap," 
said  Cinderella. 


CINDERELLA  ;  OR  THE  GLASS  SLIPPER.    59 

"  That  is  a  good  thought.  Run  and  bring 
the  rat-trap,  my  dear." 

Back  came  Cinderella  with  the  trap.  In  it 
were  three  large  rats.  The  fairy  chose  one 
that  had  long  black  whiskers,  and  she  made 
him  the  coachman. 

"  Now  go  into  the  garden  and  bring  me 
six  lizards.  You  will  find  them  behind  the 
water-pot." 

These  were  no  sooner  brought  than,  lo ! 
with  a  touch  of  the  wand  they  were  turned 
into  six  footmen,  who  jumped  up  behind  the 
coach,  as  if  they  had  done  nothing  else  all 
their  days.  Then  the  fairy  said  :  — 

"  Here  is  your  coach  and  six,  Cinderella  ; 
your  coachman  and  your  footmen.  Now  you 
can  go  to  the  ball." 

"What!  in  these  clothes?"  and  Cinderella 
looked  down  at  her  ragged  frock.  The  fairy 
laughed  and  just  touched  her  with  the  wand. 
In  a  twinkling  her  shabby  clothes  were 
changed  to  a  dress  of  gold  and  silver  tissue, 
and  on  her  bare  feet  were  silk  stockings  and 
a  pair  of  glass  slippers,  the  prettiest  ever 
seen. 

"  Now  go  to  the  ball,  Cinderella ;  but  re- 


60  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

member,  if  you  stay  one  moment  after  mid- 
night,  your  coach  will  instantly  become  a 
pumpkin,  your  horses  will  be  mice,  your 
coachman  a  rat,  and  your  footmen  lizards. 
And  you  ?  you  will  be  once  more  only  a  cin- 
der-maid in  a  ragged  frock  and  with  bare 
feet." 

H. 

CINDERELLA   IN   THE   PALACE. 

CINDERELLA  promised  and  drove  away  in 
high  glee.  She  dashed  up  to  the  palace,  and 
her  coach  was  so  fine  that  the  king's  son  came 
down  the  steps  of  the  palace  to  hand  out  this 
unknown  princess.  He  led  her  to  the  hall 
where  all  the  guests  were  dancing. 

The  moment  she  appeared  all  voices  were 
hushed,  the  music  stopped,  and  the  dancers 
stood  still.  Such  a  beautiful  princess  had 
never  been  seen !  Even  the  king,  old  as  he 
was,  turned  to  the  queen  and  said  :  — 

"  She  is  the  most  beautiful  being  I  ever 
saw  —  since  I  first  saw  you  !  " 

As  for  the  ladies  of  the  court,  they  were 
all  busy  looking  at  Cinderella's  clothes.  They 


CINDERELLA  ;  OR  THE  GLASS  SLIPPER.    61 

meant  to  get  some  just  like  them  the  very 
next  day,  if  it  was  possible. 

The  prince  led  Cinderella  to  the  place  of 
highest  rank  and  asked  her  hand  for  the  next 
dance.  She  danced  with  so  much  grace  that 
he  admired  her  more  and  more.  Supper  was 
brought  in,  but  the  prince  could  not  keep  his 
eyes  off  the  beautiful  stranger.  Cinderella 
went  and  sat  by  her  sisters  and  shared  with 
them  the  fruit  which  the  prince  gave  her. 
They  were  very  proud  to  have  her  by  them, 
for  they  never  dreamed  who  she  really  was. 

Cinderella  was  talking  with  them  when  she 
heard  the  clock  strike  the  quarter  hour  before 
twelve.  She  went  at  once  to  the  king  and 
queen  and  made  a  low  courtesy  and  bade 
them  good-night.  The  queen  said  there  was 
to  be  another  ball  the  next  night,  and  she 
must  come  to  that.  The  prince  led  her  down 
the  steps  to  her  coach,  and  she  drove  home. 

At  the  house  the  fairy  sat  waiting  for  Cin- 
derella. The  maiden  began  to  tell  all  that 
had  happened,  and  was  in  the  midst  of  her 
story,  when  a  knock  was  heard  at  the  door. 
It  was  the  sisters  coming  home  from  the  ball. 
The  fairy  disappeared,  and  Cinderella  went 


62  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

to  the  door,  rubbing  her  eyes,  as  if  she  had 
just  waked  from  a  nap.  She  was  once  more 
a  poor  little  cinder-maid. 

"  How  late  you  are !  "  she  said,  as  she 
opened  the  door. 

"  If  you  had  been  to  the  ball,  you  would 
not  have  thought  it  late,"  said  her  sisters. 
"  There  came  the  most  beautiful  princess  that 
ever  was  seen.  She  was  very  civil  to  us  and 
loaded  us  with  oranges  and  grapes." 

"  Who  was  she  ?  "  asked  Cinderella. 

"  Nobody  knew  her  name.  The  prince 
would  give  his  eyes  to  know." 

"  Ah  !  how  I  should  like  to  see  her,"  said 
Cinderella.  "  Oh,  do,  my  Lady  Javotte,"  — 
that  was  the  name  of  the  elder  sister,  —  "  lend 
me  the  yellow  dress  you  wear  every  day,  and 
let  me  g~  to  the  ball  and  have  a  peep  at  the 
beautiful  princess." 

"  What !  lend  my  yellow  gown  to  a  cinder- 
maid  !  I  am  not  so  silly  as  that/' 

Cinderella  was  not  sorry  to  have  Javotte 
say  no  ;  she  would  have  been  puzzled  to  know 
what  to  do  if  her  sister  had  really  lent  her  the 
dress  she  begged  for. 

The  next  night  came,  and  the  sisters  again 


CINDERELLA  ;  OR  THE  GLASS  SLIPPER.    63 

went  to  the  court  ball.  After  they  had  gone, 
the  fairy  came  as  before  and  made  Cinderella 
ready. 

"  Now  remember,"  she  said,  as  the  coach 
drove  away,  "  remember  twelve  o'clock." 

Cinderella  was  even  more  splendid  than  on 
the  first  night,  and  the  king's  son  never  left 
her  side.  He  said  so  many  pretty  things  that 
Cinderella  could  think  of  nothing  else.  She 
forgot  the  fairy's  warning;  she  forgot  her 
promise.  Eleven  o'clock  came,  but  she  did 
not  notice  the  striking  ;  the  half -hour  struck, 
but  the  prince  grew  more  charming,  and  Cin- 
derella could  hear  nothing  but  his  voice ;  the 
last  quarter  —  but  still  Cinderella  sat  by  the 
prince. 

Then  the  great  clock  on  the  tower  struck 
the  first  stroke  of  twelve.  Up  sprang  Cinde- 
rella, and  like  a  frightened  fawn  she  fled  from 
the  room.  The  prince  started  to  follow  her, 
but  she  was  too  swift  for  him  ;  in  her  flight, 
one  of  her  glass  slippers  fell  from  her  feet, 
and  he  stopped  to  pick  it  up. 

The  last  stroke  of  twelve  died  away  as 
Cinderella  darted  down  the  steps  of  the  palace. 
In  a  twinkling  the  gay  lady  was  gone  ;  only  a 


64  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

shabby  cinder-maid  was  running  down  the 
steps.  The  splendid  coach  and  six,  driver 
and  footmen — all  were  gone  ;  only  a  pump- 
kin lay  on  the  ground,  and  a  rat,  six  mice,  and 
six  lizards  scampered  off. 

Cinderella  reached  home,  quite  out  of 
breath.  She  had  saved  nothing  of  all  her 
finery  but  one  little  glass  slipper.  The  prince 
had  its  mate,  but  he  had  lost  the  princess. 
He  asked  the  soldiers  at  the  palace  gate  if 
they  had  not  seen  her  drive  away.  No ;  at 
that  hour  only  a  ragged  girl  had  passed  out. 

Soon  the  two  sisters  came  home  from  the 
ball,  and  Cinderella  asked  them  if  they  had 
again  seen  the  beautiful  lady.  Yes ;  she  had 
been  at  the  ball,  but  she  had  left  suddenly, 
and  no  one  knew  what  had  become  of  her. 
But  the  prince  would  surely  find  her,  for  he 
had  one  of  her  glass  slippers. 

They  spoke  truly.  A  few  days  afterward, 
the  king's  son  sent  a  messenger  with  the 
slipper  and  a  trumpet  through  all  the  city* 
The  messenger  sounded  his  trumpet  and 
shouted  that  the  prince  would  marry  the  lady 
who  could  wear  the  glass  slipper.  So  the 
slipper  was  first  tried  on  by  all  the  princesses ; 


CINDERELLA  ;  OR  THE  GLASS  SLIPPER.    65 

then  by  all  the  duchesses ;  next  by  all  the 
persons  belonging  to  the  court ;  but  in  vain : 
not  one  could  wear  it. 

Then  it  was  carried  to  all  the  fine  houses, 
and  it  came  at  last  to  the  two  sisters.  They 
tried  with  all  their  might  to  force  a  foot  into 
the  fairy  slipper,  but  they  could  not.  Cinde- 
rella stood  by,  and  said :  — 

"  Suppose  I  were  to  try."  Her  two  sisters 
jeered  at  her,  but  the  messenger  looked  at 
Cinderella.  He  saw  that  she  was  very  fair, 
and,  besides,  he  had  orders  to  try  the  slipper 
on  the  foot  of  every  maiden  in  the  kingdom  if 
need  be. 

So  he  bade  Cinderella  sit  down  on  a  three- 
legged  stool  in  the  kitchen.  She  put  out  her 
little  foot,  and  the  slipper  fitted  like  wax- 
The  sisters  stood  in  amaze.  Then  Cinderella 
put  her  hand  into  her  pocket  and  drew  forth 
the  other  glass  slipper,  and  put  it  on  her 
other  foot. 

The  moment  that  Cinderella  did  this,  the 
fairy,  who  stood  by  unseen,  touched  her  with 
her  wand,  and  the  cinder-maid  again  became 
the  beautiful,  gaily-dressed  lady.  The  sisters 
saw  that  she  was  the  same  one  whom  they 


66  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

had  seen  at  the  ball.  They  thought  how  ill 
they  had  treated  her  all  these  years,  and  they 
fell  at  her  feet  and  asked  her  to  forgive  them. 
Cinderella  was  as  good  now  as  she  had 
been  when  she  was  a  cinder-maid.  She  freely 
forgave  her  sisters  and  took  them  to  the 
palace  with  her,  for  she  was  now  to  be  the 
prince's  wife ;  and  when  the  old  king  and 
queen  died,  the  prince  and  Cinderella  reigned 
in  their  stead. 


THE  SLEEPING  BEAUTY   IN  THE  WOOD. 
I. 

THE    BEAUTY    GOES    TO    SLEEP. 

ONCE  upon  a  time  there  lived  a  king  and 
queen  who  grieved  sorely  that  they  had  no 
child.  But  at  last  a  daughter  was  born,  and 
the  king  was  overjoyed.  He  gave  a  great 
feast,  and  asked  to  it  all  the  fairies  in  the 
land,  seven  in  all.  He  hoped  that  each  would 
give  the  child  a  gift. 

In  front  of  each  fairy  at  the  table  was  set  a 
heavy  gold  plate,  and  by  each  plate  a  gold 


THE  SLEEPING  BEAUTY  IN  THE  WOOD,  67 

knife  and  fork.  Just  as  they  sat  down  to  the 
feast,  in  came  an  old  fairy  who  had  not  been 
invited.  No  one  knew  she  was  living.  Fifty 
years  before  she  had  shut  herself  up  in  a 
tower,  and  had  not  been  seen  since. 

The  king  hurried  off  to  find  a  gold  plate 
and  knife  and  fork  for  her  also.  But  nothing 
could  be  found  so  fine  as  the  seven  plates 
which  had  been  made  to  order  for  the  seven 
fairies.  The  old  fairy  thought  herself  ill-used 
and  grumbled  in  a  low  voice.  At  that,  one 
of  the  young  fairies  feared  she  meant  mis- 
chief to  the  child,  and  so  when  the  feast  was 
over,  hid  herself  behind  the  hangings  in  the 
hall.  We  shall  soon  see  why  she  did  this. 

The  fairies  now  began  to  give  gifts  to  the 
child,  beginning  with  the  youngest.  She  gave 
her  beauty ;  the  next  gave  her  wit ;  the  third 
gave  her  grace ;  the  fourth  said  she  should 
dance  perfectly  ;  the  fifth  gave  her  a  voice  to 
sing ;  the  sixth  said  she  should  play  beauti- 
fully on  the  harp. 

The  turn  of  the  old  fairy  had  now  come, 
and  she  shook  her  head  wickedly  and  said 
the  child  would  grow  up,  but  when  she  was 
grown,  she  would  pierce  her  hand,  when  spin- 


68  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

ning,  and  die  of  the  wound.  At  this,  all  the 
company  began  to  weep,  but  the  fairy  who 
had  hidden  came  forward  and  said :  — 

"  Be  of  good  cheer,  king  and  queen.  Your 
daughter  shall  not  so  die.  I  cannot  entirely 
Undo  what  my  elder  has  done.  The  princess 
must  pierce  her  hand  when  spinning,  but  in- 
stead of  dying  she  shall  fall  into  a  deep  sleep. 
The  sleep  shall  last  a  hundred  years ;  at  the 
end  of  that  time  a  king's  son  will  come  to 
wake  her." 

The  king  was  very  sad,  but  he  hoped  he 
might  prevent  the  evil.  So  he  made  a  law 
that  no  one  in  the  kingdom  should  spin  or 
have  a  spinning-wheel  in  the  house,  under 
pain  of  instant  death. 

All  went  well  for  fifteen  years.  Then  it 
chanced  that  the  princess  was  with  the  king 
and  queen  in  one  of  their  castles,  and  was 
spying  about  by  herself.  She  came  to  a  little 
chamber  at  the  top  of  a  tower,  and  there  sat 
an  honest  old  woman  spinning.  She  was 
very  old  and  deaf,  and  had  never  heard  of 
the  king's  command. 

"  What  are  you  doing  ?  "  asked  the  princess. 

"  I  am  spinning,  my  pretty  child." 


THE  SLEEPING  BEAUTY  IN  THE  WOOD.    69 

"  How  charming  it  is  !  "  said  the  princess. 
"  How  do  you  do  it  ?  Let  me  try  if  I  can 
spin."  She  seized  the  spindle,  but  she  was 
hasty  and  careless,  and  pierced  her  hand  with 
its  point.  She  fainted,  and  the  old  woman, 
in  great  alarm,  ran  for  help.  People  came 
running  from  all  sides,  but  they  could  not 
rouse  her. 

The  king  heard  the  noise  and  came  also. 
Then  he  saw  that  the  cruel  fairy  had  had 
her  wish.  His  daughter  would  not  wake  for 
a  hundred  years.  He  laid  her  on  the  bed  in 
the  best  room,  and  stood  sadly  looking  upon 
her.  She  was  asleep ;  he  could  hear  her 
breathe ;  her  cheeks  were  full  of  color,  but 
her  eyes  were  closed. 

Now  the  good  fairy,  who  had  said  the  prin- 
cess should  wake  in  a  hundred  years,  was 
thousands  of  miles  away  at  the  time.  But  she 
knew  of  it,  and  came  at  once  in  a  chariot  of 
fire  drawn  by  dragons.  The  king  came  to 
meet  her,  his  eyes  red  with  weeping. 

The  good  fairy  was  very  wise  and  saw  that 
the  princess  would  not  know  what  to  do  if 
she  awoke  all  alone  in  the  castle,  in  a  hun- 
dred years.  So  this  is  what  she  did. 


70  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

She  touched  with  her  wand  every  one  in 
the  castle  except  the  king  and  the  queen. 
She  touched  the  maids  of  honor,  the  gentle- 
men, the  officers,  the  stewards^  cooks,  boys, 
guards,  porters,  pages,  footmen  ;  she  touched 
the  horses  in  the  stable,  the  grooms,  the  great 
mastiff  in  the  court-yard,  and  the  tiny  lap- 
dog  of  the  princess  that  was  on  the  bed  be- 
side her. 

The  moment  she  touched  them,  they  all  fell 
asleep  just  as  they  were,  not  to  wake  again 
until  the  time  came  for  their  mistress  to  do 
so,  and  then  they  all  would  be  ready  to  wait 
on  her.  Even  the  fire  went  to  sleep,  and  the 
roasting-spit  before  the  fire  with  its  fowls 
ready  for  roasting. 

It  was  the  work  of  a  moment.  The  king 
and  queen  kissed  their  daughter  good-by 
and  left  the  castle.  The  king  issued  a  com- 
mand that  no  one  was  to  go  near  the  castle. 
That  was  needless;  for  in  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  a  wood  had  grown  about  it  so  thick  and 
thorny  that  nothing  could  get  through  it. 
The  castle-top  itself  could  only  be  seen  from 
afar. 


THE  SLEEPING  BEAUTY  IN  THE  WOOD.  71 
IL 

THE    BEAUTY    WAKES. 

AFTER  a  few  years  the  king  and  queen 
died.  They  had  no  other  child,  and  the  king- 
dom passed  into  the  hands  of  a  distant  family. 
A  hundred  years  went  by.  The  son  of  the 
king  who  was  then  reigning  was  out  hunting 
one  day,  when  he  noticed  the  tower  of  a  cas- 
tle in  the  distance.  He  asked  what  castle  it 
was. 

All  manner  of  answers  were  given  to  him. 
One  said  it  was  a  fairy  castle  ;  another  said 
that  a  great  monster  lived  there.  At  last  an 
old  man  said  :  — 

"  Prince,  more  than  fifty  years  ago  I  heard 
my  father  say  that  there  was  in  that  castle 
the  most  beautiful  princess  ever  seen;  that 
she  was  to  sleep  for  a  hundred  years,  and  to 
be  waked  at  last  by  the  king's  son,  who  was 
to  marry  her." 

The  young  prince  at  these  words  felt  him- 
self on  fire.  He  had  not  a  doubt  that  he  was 
the  one  to  awaken  the  princess.  He  set  out 


72  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

at  once  for  the  wood,  and  when  he  drew  near, 
the  trees  and  thorns  opened  on  one  side  and 
the  other  to  offer  him  a  path. 

He  was  in  a  long,  straight  road,  and  at  the 
end  was  the  castle  in  full  view.  He  turned  to 
look  for  his  comrades.  Not  one  was  to  be 
seen.  The  wood  had  closed  again  behind 
him.  Ho  was  alone,  and  all  was  still  about 
him.  Forward  he  strode  and  came  to  the 
castle-gate.  He  entered  the  court-yard  and 
stood  still  in  amazement. 

On  every  side  were  the  bodies  of  men  and 
animals.  But  the  faces  of  the  men  were 
rosy  ;  it  was  plain  that  they  were  asleep. 
His  steps  sounded  on  the  marble  floor.  He 
entered  the  guard-room.  There  the  guards 
stood  drawn  up  in  line,  with  then:  spears  in 
their  hands,  but  they  did  not  move.  They 
were  fast  asleep. 

He  passed  through  one  room  after  another ; 
people  were  asleep  in  chairs,  on  benches, 
standing,  sitting,  lying  down.  He  entered  a 
beautiful  room,  covered  with  gold,  and  saw 
the  most  wonderful  sight  of  all. 

There  lay  a  maiden,  so  fair  that  she  seemed 
to  belong  to  another  world  He  drew  near 


THE  SLEEPING  BE  A  UTY  IN  THE  WOOD.  73 

and  knelt  beside  her.  She  did  not  stir.  Her 
hand  lay  on  her  breast,  and  he  touched  his 
lips  to  it. 

As  he  did  this,  her  eyes  opened  and  looked 
at  the  young  man.  She  smiled,  and  said  :  — i 

"Have  you  come,  my  prince?  I  have 
waited  long  for  you." 

The  prince  hardly  knew  how  to  answer, 
but  he  soon  found  his  voice,  and  they  talked 
for  hours,  and  had  not  then  said  half  that  was 
in  their  heads  to  say. 

Now  the  moment  that  the  princess  waked, 
her  little  lap-dog  waked  also.  The  great 
mastiff  in  the  court-yard  awoke  ;  the  horses 
in  the  stable  and  the  grooms  awoke ;  the 
footmen,  the  pages,  the  porters,  the  guards, 
the  boys,  the  cooks,  the  stewards,  the  officers, 
the  gentlemen  and  the  maids  of  honor,  all 
awoke.  The  fire  began  to  burn  again,  the 
spits  turned  round,  and  the  fowls  began  to 
roast. 

So,  while  the  prince  and  the  princess  forgot 
the  hours  in  talk,  these  people  began  to  be 
hungry.  The  maids  of  honor  went  to  the 
princess  to  tell  her  that  they  all  waited  for 
her.  Then  the  prince  took  the  princess  by 
the  hand  and  led  her  into  the  hall. 


74  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

She  was  dressed  in  great  splendor,  but  the 
prince  did  not  hint  that  she  looked  as  the 
picture  of  his  great-grandmother  looked.  He 
thought  her  all  the  more  charming  for  that, 
but  he  did  not  tell  her  so.  The  musicians 
played  excellent  but  old  music  at  supper ;  and 
after  supper,  to  lose  no  time,  the  prince  and 
princess  were  married  in  the  chapel  of  the 
castle. 

The  next  day  they  left  the  castle.  All  the 
people  followed  them  down  the  long  path. 
The  wood  opened  again  to  let  them  through. 
Outside  they  met  the  prince's  men,  and  glad 
they  were  to  see  the  prince  once  more.  He 
turned  to  show  them  the  castle,  when,  lo  ! 
there  was  no  castle  to  be  seen,  and  no  wood. 

But  the  prince  and  princess  rode  gaily  away, 
and  when  the  old  king  and  queen  died,  they 
reigned  in  their  stead. 


BEAUTY  AND   THE  BEAST.  75 

BEAUTY  AND  THE  BEAST. 

I. 
BEAUTY   AND    HER    SISTERS. 

THERE  was  once  a  rich  merchant  who  had 
six  children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters ; 
he  loved  them  more  than  he  loved  all  his 
riches,  so  that  he  was  always  seeking  to  make 
them  happy  and  wise. 

The  daughters  were  very  pretty ;  but  the 
youngest  was  more  than  pretty  —  she  was 
beautiful.  As  every  one  called  her  Little 
Beauty  when  she  was  a  child,  and  she  became 
more  lovely  every  year,  the  name  grew  up 
with  her,  so  that  she  had  no  other  than 
just  —  Beauty. 

Now  Beauty  was  as  good  as  she  was  beauti- 
ful ;  but  her  elder  sisters  were  ill-natured  and 
jealous  of  her,  and  could  not  bear  to  hear  her 
called  Beauty.  They  were  very  proud,  too, 
of  their  father's  riches,  and  put  on  great  airs. 
They  would  not  visit  the  daughters  of  other 
merchants,  but  were  always  following  persons 
who  had  titles,  Lady  this  and  Duchess  that. 


76  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

They  laughed  at  Beauty,  who  lived  quietly  at 
home  with  their  father. 

The  father  was  so  rich  that  many  great  mer- 
chants wished  to  marry  his  daughters,  but  the 
two  eldest  always  said  that  they  could  never 
think  of  marrying  anybody  below  a  duke,  or 
at  the  least  an  earl.  As  for  Beauty,  she 
thanked  her  lovers  for  thinking  so  well  of  her, 
but  as  she  was  still  very  young,  she  wished  to 
live  a  few  years  longer  with  her  father. 

Now  it  fell  out  that  the  merchant  all  at 
once  lost  his  great  wealth.  Nothing  was  left 
but  one  small  house  in  the  country,  and  there 
the  poor  man  told  his  children  they  must  now 
go,  and  earn  their  daily  bread. 

The  two  eldest  daughters  said  they  need  not 
go,  for  they  had  plenty  of  lovers  who  would 
be  glad  enough  to  marry  them,  even  though 
they  had  lost  their  fortune.  But  they  were 
wrong,  for  their  lovers  would  not  look  at 
them  now,  and  jeered  at  them  in  their  trouble, 
because  they  had  been  so  proud  before. 

Yet  every  one  felt  sorry  for  Beauty. 
Several  gentlemen  who  loved  her  begged  her 
still  to  let  them  marry  her,  though  she  had 
uot  a  penny.  Beauty  refused,  and  said  she 


BEAUTY  AND  THE  BEAST.      77 

could  not  leave  her  father  now  that  trouble 
had  come  upon  him. 

So  the  family  went  to  live  in  the  small 
house  in  the  country.  There  the  merchant 
and  his  three  sons  ploughed  and  sowed  the 
fields,  and  worked  hard  all  day.  Beauty  rose 
at  four  o'clock  every  morning,  put  the  house 
in  order,  and  got  breakfast  for  the  whole 
family.  It  was  very  hard  at  first,  for  no  one 
helped  her ;  but  every  day  it  grew  easier  to 
work,  and  Beauty  grew  stronger  and  rosier. 
When  her  work  was  done,  she  could  read  or 
play  on  her  harp,  or  sit  at  her  spinning-wheel, 
singing  as  she  spun. 

As  for  her  two  sisters,  they  were  idle  and 
unhappy,  and  became  quite  helpless.  They 
never  got  up  till  ten  o'clock,  and  then  they 
spent  the  day  moping  and  fretting,  because 
they  no  longer  had  fine  clothes  to  wear,  and 
could  not  go  to  fine  parties  to  be  seen.  They 
jeered  at  Beauty,  and  said  she  was  nothing 
but  a  servant-girl  after  all,  to  like  that  way  of 
living ;  but  Beauty  did  not  mind  them,  and 
lived  on  cheerfully. 

They  had  been  in  the  country  a  year,  when 
the  merchant  one  morning  had  a  letter.  It 


78  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

brought  the  news  that  a  ship  laden  with  rich 
goods  belonging  to  him  had  not  been  lost 
after  all,  and  had  just  come  into  port.  The 
two  sisters  were  half  wild  with  joy,  for  now 
they  could  soon  leave  the  farm-house,  and  go 
back  to  the  gay  city. 

When  their  father  was  about  to  go  to  the 
port  to  settle  his  business  there,  they  begged 
him  to  bring  back  all  manner  of  fine  things  for 
them. 

Then  the  merchant  asked  Beauty  :  — 

"  And  what  shall  I  bring  you,  Beauty  ?  " 
for  Beauty  had  yet  asked  for  nothing. 

"  Why,  since  you  ask  me,  dear  father,  I 
should  like  you  to  bring  me  a  rose,  for  none 
grow  in  these  parts."  Now  Beauty  did  not 
care  so  very  much  for  a  rose,  but  she  did  not 
like  to  seem  to  blame  her  sisters,  or  to  appear 
better  than  they,  by  saying  that  she  did  not 
wish  for  anything. 

The  good  man  set  off ;  but  all  was  not  as  he 
had  hoped.  The  ship  had  come  in,  but  there 
was  a  dispute  about  the  cargo.  He  went  to 
law,  and  it  ended  in  his  turning  back  poorer 
than  when  he  left  his  home. 


BEAUTY  AND  THE  BEAST.      79 

n. 

THE   BEAST   AT    HOME. 

HE  set  out  to  return  to  the  farm-house. 
When  he  was  within  thirty  miles  of  home,  he 
came  to  a  large  wood  through  which  he  must 
pass.  The  snow  began  to  fall,  and  covered 
the  path.  The  night  closed  in,  and  it  grew 
so  dark  and  so  cold  that  the  poor  man  gave 
himself  up  for  lost.  He  could  not  see  the 
way,  and  he  was  faint  with  cold  and  hunger. 

All  at  once  he  saw  a  light  at  the  end  of  a 
long  avenue  of  trees.  He  turned  into  the 
avenue  and  rode  until  he  came  to  the  end  of 
it.  There  he  found  a  great  palace ;  the  win- 
dows were  all  lighted,  and  the  door  stood 
open,  but  he  saw  not  a  soul. 

The  door  of  the  stable  was  also  open,  and 
his  horse  walked  in.  A  crib  full  of  hay  and 
oats  was  there,  and  the  tired  beast  fell  to  eat- 
ing heartily.  The  merchant  left  his  horse  in 
the  stall  and  entered  the  palace.  He  saw  no- 
body and  heard  nobody,  but  a  fire  was  burn- 
ing on  the  hearth,  and  a  table  was  spread  with 
choice  food,  and  set  for  one  person.  He  was 


80  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

wet  to  the  skin,  and  went  to  the  fire  to  dry 
himself,  saying :  — 

"I  hope  the  master  of  the  house  or  his 
servants  will  not  blame  me  for  this.  No 
doubt  some  one  will  soon  come." 

He  waited,  but  no  one  came.  The  clock 
struck  eleven.  Then,  faint  for  want  of  food, 
he  went  to  the  table  and  ate  some  meat,  yet 
all  the  time  in  a  great  fright.  But  when  he 
was  no  longer  hungry,  he  began  to  pluck  up 
courage,  and  to  look  about  him. 

The  clock  struck  twelve.  He  left  the  hall 
and  passed  through  one  room  after  another 
till  he  came  to  one  where  there  was  a  bed. 
Jt  was  made  ready,  and  since  he  was  very 
tired  he  lay  down  and  slept  soundly. 

The  merchant  did  not  wake  till  ten  o'clock 
the  next  morning.  He  had  placed  his  clothes 
on  a  chair  by  the  side  of  the  bed.  They  had 
been  nearly  ruined  by  the  storm,  and  were  be- 
sides old  and  worn.  Now  he  saw  a  wholly 
new  suit  in  their  place. 

He  began  to  think  he  must  be  in  the  pal- 
ace of  some  fairy,  and  he  was  sure  of  it  when 
he  looked  out  of  the  window.  The  snow  had 
gone,  and  a  lovely  garden  lay  before  him,  full 


BEAUTY  AND  THE  BEAST.      81 

of  flowers.  He  dressed  and  went  back  to  the 
hall.  A  table  was  spread  for  breakfast,  and 
he  at  once  sat  down  to  it.  Then  he  went  to 
get  his  horse.  On  the  way  he  passed  some 
roses.  He  remembered  Beauty  and  plucked 
a  rose  to  take  home  with  him. 

As  soon  as  he  had  done  this,  he  heard  t 
frightful  roar,  and  saw  a  dreadful  Beast  com- 
ing toward  him.  He  was  so  frightened  that 
he  nearly  fell  down.  The  Beast  cried  out  in 
a  loud  voice  :  — 

"  Ungrateful  man  !  I  saved  your  life  by 
letting  you  come  into  my  palace.  I  gave  you 
food  to  eat  and  a  bed  to  rest  in,  and  now  you 
steal  my  roses,  which  I  love  beyond  every- 
thing. You  shall  pay  for  this  with  you* 
life  !  "  The  poor  man  threw  himself  on  his 
knees  before  the  Beast,  saying :  — 

"  Forgive  me,  my  lord.  I  did  not  know  I 
was  doing  wrong.  I  only  wanted  to  pluck  a 
rose  for  one  of  my  daughters.  She  asked  me 
to  bring  one  home  to  her.  I  pray  you,  do 
not  kill  me,  my  lord." 

"  I  am  not  a  lord.  I  am  a  Beast.  I  hate 
soft  words,  and  you  will  not  catch  me  by 
any  of  your  fine  speeches.  You  say  you  have 


82  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

daughters.  Well,  I  will  forgive  you,  if  one 
of  them  will  come  and  die  in  your  stead.  But 
promise  that,  if  they  refuse,  you  will  come 
back  in  three  months." 

The  merchant  did  not  mean  in  the  least  to 
let  one  of  his  daughters  die  for  him.  But  he 
wished  to  see  his  children  once  more  before 
he  died,  so  he  promised  to  return  if  one  of 
his  daughters  would  not  die  for  him.  The 
Beast  then  told  him  to  go  back  to  the  room 
where  he  had  slept.  There  he  would  find  a 
chest.  He  might  fill  it  with  anything  he 
found  in  the  palace,  and  it  would  be  sent 
after  him. 


III. 

BEAUTY  GOES  TO  THE  BEAST. 

THE  merchant  did  as  he  was  bid.  The 
floor  of  the  room  was  covered  with  gold,  and 
he  filled  the  chest.  If  he  must  die,  he  would 
at  least  provide  for  his  children.  Then  he 
took  his  horse  and  rode  out  of  the  wood,  and 
came  at  last  to  his  home.  He  held  the  rose 
in  his  hand,  and  as  the  daughters  came  out  to 


BEAUTY  AND   THE  BEAST.  83 

meet  him,  he  gave  it  to  the  youngest,  say- 
ing:— 

"  Take  it,  Beauty.  You  little  know  what, 
it  has  cost  your  poor  father ;  "  and  then  he 
told  all  that  had  happened  since  he  left  home. 

The  two  eldest  daughters  began  to  cry 
aloud,  and  to  blame  Beauty.  Why  did  she 
ask  for  roses?  Why  did  she  not  ask  for 
dresses,  as  they  did  ;  then  all  would  have  gone 
well.  Now  the  hard-hearted  thing,  they  said, 
did  not  shed  a  tear.  Beauty  replied  quietly 
that  it  was  of  little  use  to  weep.  She  meant 
to  go  and  die  in  her  father's  stead. 

"  No,  no ! "  cried  the  three  brothers. 
"  We  will  go  and  seek  this  Beast,  and  either 
he  or  we  must  die  !  " 

"  It  is  all  in  vain,"  said  the  father.  "  You 
do  not  know  the  Beast.  He  is  more  mighty 
than  you  can  think.  No !  you  must  stay  and 
care  for  your  sisters.  At  the  end  of  three 
months  I  shall  go  back  and  die."  The  mer- 
chant then  went  to  his  room,  and  there  he 
found  the  chest  of  gold. 

He  was  greatly  amazed.  He  had  forgotten 
the  promise  of  the  Beast.  But  he  said  noth- 
ing about  the  chest  to  his  daughters.  He  wai 


84  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

sure  they  would  tease  him  to  go  back  to  town 
to  live. 

Beauty  said  little,  but  when  the  three 
months  were  over,  she  made  ready  to  go  with 
her  father.  The  brothers  and  sisters  bade 
them  good-by,  and  wept  over  Beauty.  The 
brothers  wept  real  tears,  but  the  sisters  rubbed 
their  eyes  with  onions,  so  as  to  make  tears ; 
they  did  not  really  care. 

The  horse  took  the  right  road,  as  if  he 
knew  the  way,  and  when  he  came  to  the  pal- 
ace, he  went  at  once  to  the  stable.  The  mer- 
chant and  Beauty  entered  the  palace.  They 
found  the  table  spread  for  two  persons,  and 
they  sat  down  to  it. 

After  supper  there  was  a  great  roar  as  be- 
fore, and  the  Beast  entered.  Beauty  trembled, 
and  the  Beast  turned  to  her  and  said  :  — 

"  Did  you  come  of  your  own  self  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Beauty,  still  trembling. 

"  Then  I  thank  you.  But  you,  sir,"  and 
he  turned  to  the  father,  "get  you  gone  to- 
morrow, and  never  let  me  see  your  face  again. 
Good-night,  Beauty." 

"Good -night,  Beast,"  she  replied,  and 
Beast  walked  off.  The  merchant  begged 


BUPU-iiY  1NJ 
EN1T  SCHO6fc  DISTRICT  NO-1 

BEAUTY  AND   THE  BEAST.  85 

and  begged  his  daughter  to  leave  him  and  to 
go  back  to  her  home.  But  she  was  firm,  and 
when  the  morning  came,  she  made  him  leave 
her. 

"Surely,"  he  thought,  "Beast  will  not 
hurt  Beauty." 

Beauty  wept,  but  she  was  a  brave  girl,  and 
soon  she  dried  her  eyes  and  began  to  walk 
through  the  palace.  She  came  to  a  door  and 
over  it  was  written  BEAUTY'S  ROOM.  She 
opened  the  door  and  found  herself  in  a  fine 
chamber,  with  books,  music,  and  a  harp,  and 
many  beautiful  things. 

"  It  cannot  be  that  I  have  only  a  day  to 
live,"  she  said,  "  for  why  should  all  this  be 
done  for  me  ?  "  She  opened  a  book  and  saw 
written  in  letters  of  gold :  Your  wishes  and 
commands  shall  be  obeyed.  You  are  here 
the  queen  over  everything. 

"  Alas  !  "  she  thought,  "  I  wish  most  of  all 
I  could  see  my  father  and  know  what  he  is 
doing."  Just  then  her  eyes  fell  on  a  large 
looking-glass,  and  in  it  she  saw  her  father  just 
reaching  home.  Her  sisters  came  out  to  meet 
him.  They  tried  to  look  sad,  but  it  was  plain 
that  they  were  not  sorry  to  see  him  come 
home  alone. 


86  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

The  sight  in  the  glass  was  only  for  a  mo* 
ment ;  then  it  faded,  and  Beauty  turned  away, 
and  in  her  mind  thanked  Beast  for  what  he 
had  done. 

At  noon  she  found  dinner  ready  for  her: 
and  sweet  music  sounded  as  she  ate.  But  she 
saw  nobody.  At  night  Beast  came  and  asked 
leave  to  sup  with  her.  Of  course  she  could 
not  say  no,  but  she  sat  in  a  fright  all  through 
supper.  He  did  not  speak  for  some  time. 
Then  he  said  :  — 

"  Beauty,  do  you  think  me  very  ugly  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Beast ;  I  cannot  tell  a  lie.  But  1 
think  you  are  very  good."  Nothing  more 
was  said,  and  Beauty  was  beginning  to  be 
rid  of  her  fear,  when  all  at  once  he  asked :  — 

"  Beauty,  will  you  marry  me  ?  "  Beauty 
was  in  a  fright  again,  but  she  answered  :  — 

"  No,  Beast."  He  gave  a  great  sigh  which 
shook  the  house.  Then  he  got  up  from  the 
table  and  said  :  — 

"Good -night,  Beauty,"  and  went  away. 
Beauty  was  glad  he  had  gone,  but  she  could 
not  help  pitying  him. 


BEAUTY  AND   THE  BEAST.  8? 

IV. 
THE    CHARM    IS    BROKEN. 

BEAUTY  lived  in  this  way  three  months. 
The  Beast  came  to  supper  every  night.  He 
did  not  grow  less  ugly,  but  Beauty  did  not 
mind  his  ugliness  so  much,  for  she  saw  how 
kind  he  really  was.  But  there  was  one  sore 
trouble.  Every  night  the  Beast  was  sure  to 
ask:  — 

"Will  you  marry  me,  Beauty?"  and 
Beauty  always  answered :  — 

"  No,  Beast." 

But  one  night  he  begged  her  at  least  never 
to  leave  him.  Now  it  chanced  on  that  very 
day  Beauty  had  looked  in  her  glass.  There 
she  saw  her  father  sick  with  grief,  for  he 
thought  his  child  was  dead.  Her  sisters  were 
married.  Her  brothers  were  soldiers.  So  she 
told  all  this  to  the  Beast,  and  wept  and  said 
she  should  die  if  she  could  not  see  her  father 
once  more. 

"  Do  not  refuse  to  let  me  go ! "  she 
begged. 

"  No,"  said  the  Beast.     "  I  will  not  refuse 


88  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES 

you.  I  would  much  rather  your  poor  Beast 
should  die  of  grief  for  your  absence.  So  you 
may  go." 

"  Oh,  thank  you,  dear  Beast,"  said  Beauty, 
"  and  I  will  surely  come  back  in  a  week." 

"When  you  wish  to  come  back,  Beauty, 
lay  your  ring  on  the  table  before  you  go  to 
bed,  and  you  will  find  yourself  here  when  you 
wake.  Good-night,  Beauty." 

"  Good-night,  Beast." 

The  next  morning  Beauty  woke  to  find 
herself  at  the  farm  -  house.  Her  father  was 
so  glad  to  see  her  once  more,  and  to  know 
she  was  alive  and  well,  that  his  sickness  left 
him  at  once.  He  sent  for  her  sisters,  who 
came  and  brought  their  husbands. 

These  husbands  were  not  much  to  be 
praised.  One  was  so  vain  that  he  looked  at 
himself  and  seldom  looked  at  his  wife.  The 
other  had  a  sharp  tongue  and  liked  to  use  it 
on  other  people  and  most  of  all  on  his  own 
wife.  So  the  sisters  were  no  happier  than 
they  had  been. 

But  they  were  still  jealous  of  Beauty,  and 
they  laid  a  plan  for  her  hurt.  They  thought 
if  they  could  keep  her  at  home  after  the  week 


BEAUTY  AND  THE  BEAST.      89 

was  over,  the  Beast  would  be  so  angry,  he 
would  soon  make  an  end  of  her.  So,  at  the 
end  of  the  week  they  made  a  great  ado,  and 
begged  her  to  stay  just  a  little  longer.  Beauty 
could  not  help  being  glad  to  have  her  sisters 
want  her.  She  said  she  would  stay  one  week 
more,  but  she  was  not  quite  easy  in  her  mind. 

On  the  night  of  the  tenth  day  the  sisters 
gave  her  a  feast,  in  order  to  make  her  forget 
the  Beast.  But  at  night  Beauty  dreamed  she 
saw  poor  Beast  lying  half  dead  on  the  grass 
in  the  palace  garden.  She  woke  in  tears,  and 
at  once  laid  her  ring  on  the  table,  and  then 
went  to  sleep  again. 

When  she  awoke,  she  was  once  more  in  her 
room  at  the  palace.  All  day  she  wished  for 
supper  time  to  come.  Then  she  would  see 
Beast  again.  But  supper  time  came  and  no 
Beast  was  at  the  table.  Nine  o'clock  struck 
and  still  Beast  did  not  come. 

Beauty  flew  into  the  garden.  She  went  to 
the  spot  she  had  dreamed  of,  and  there  lay 
poor  Beast  on  the  grass.  She  felt  his  heart 
beat.  He  was  still  alive.  She  ran  for  some 
water  and  threw  it  on  his  face.  The  Beast 
opened  his  eyes  and  said  in  a  faint  voice :  — 


90  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  You  forgot  your  promise.  I  could  not 
live  without  you,  and  I  meant  to  starve  to 
death.  Now  you  have  come,  and  I  shall  die 
happy." 

"  No  !  you  shall  not  die,  dear  Beast,"  cried 
Beauty.  "  You  shall  live  to  be  my  husband, 
for  now  I  feel  I  really  love  you." 

At  these  words  the  whole  palace  was  ablaze 
with  light.  Music  sounded,  and  there  was  a 
stir  all  about.  There  was  no  Beast,  but  in 
his  place  a  very  handsome  prince  was  at 
Beauty's  feet. 

"  You  have  broken  the  charm  that  held 
me,"  he  said. 

"  But  where  is  my  poor  Beast  ? "  asked 
Beauty,  weeping.  "  I  want  my  dear  Beast." 

"  I  was  the  Beast,"  said  the  Prince.  "  A 
wicked  fairy  had  power  to  make  me  live  in 
that  ugly  form  till  some  good  and  beautiful 
maid  should  be  found,  so  good  as  to  love  me 
in  spite  of  my  ugliness." 

Beauty  was  amazed,  but  she  took  the 
Prince's  hand  and  they  went  into  the  palace. 
The  people  of  the  country  were  full  of  joy. 
They  had  mourned  for  their  Prince,  and  now 
he  had  suddenly  come  back  again,  and  with 


JACK  AND   THE  BEAN-STALK.  91 

him  was  a  beautiful  princess.  So  Beauty  and 
the  Beast,  who  was  no  longer  a  Beast,  reigned 
happily  in  the  kingdom. 


JACK  AND  THE  BEAN-STALK. 
I. 

THE   BEANS   ARE   PLANTED. 

IN  the  days  of  King  Alfred  a  poor  woman 
was  living  in  a  country  village  in  England. 
She  had  an  only  son,  Jack,  who  was  a  good- 
natured,  idle  boy.  She  was  too  easy  with 
him.  She  never  set  him  to  work,  and  soon 
there  was  nothing  left  to  them  but  their  cow. 
Then  the  mother  began  to  weep  and  to  think 
that  she  had  brought  up  her  boy  very  ill. 

"  Cruel  boy  !  "  she  said.  "  You  have  at 
last  made  me  a  beggar.  I  have  not  money 
enough  to  buy  a  bit  of  bread.  We  cannot 
starve.  We  must  sell  the  cow,  and  then, 
what  shall  we  do  ?  " 

At  first  Jack  felt  very  badly  and  wished  he 
had  done  better.  But  soon  he  began  to  think 


92  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

what  fun  it  would  be  to  sell  the  cow.  He 
begged  his  mother  to  let  him  go  with  the  cow 
at  once  to  the  nearest  village.  She  was  not 
very  willing.  She  did  not  believe  Jack  knew 
enough  to  sell  a  cow,  but  at  last  she  gave  him 
leave. 

Off  went  Jack  with  the  cow.  He  had  not 
gone  far  when  he  met  a  butcher. 

"  Where  are  you  going  with  your  cow  ?  " 
asked  the  butcher. 

"  I  am  going  to  sell  it,"  said  Jack.  The 
butcher,  as  they  talked,  held  his  hat  in  his 
hand  and  shook  it.  Jack  looked  into  the 
hat  and  saw  some  odd-looking  beans.  The 
butcher  saw  him  eye  them.  He  knew  how 
silly  Jack  was,  so  he  said  to  him  :  — 

"  Well,  if  you  wish  to  sell  your  cow,  sell 
her  to  me.  I  will  give  you  all  these  beans 
for  her." 

Jack  thought  this  a  fine  bargain.  He  gave 
the  butcher  the  cow  and  took  the  beans.  He 
ran  all  the  way  home  and  could  hardly  wait 
to  reach  the  house.  He  called  out  to  his 
mother  to  see  what  he  had  got  for  the  cow. 

When  the  poor  woman  saw  only  a  few 
beans,  she  burst  into  tears.  She  was  so  vexed 


JACK  AND   THE  BEAN-STALK.  93 

that  she  threw  the  beans  out  of  the  window. 
She  did  not  even  cook  them  for  supper. 
They  had  nothing  else  to  eat  and  they  went 
to  bed  hungry. 

Jack  woke  early  the  next  morning  and 
thought  it  very  dark.  He  went  to  the  win 
dow  and  could  hardly  see  out  of  it,  for  it  was 
covered  with  something  green.  He  ran  down 
stairs  and  into  the  garden.  There  he  saw  a 
strange  sight. 

The  beans  had  taken  root  and  shot  up 
toward  the  clouds.  The  stalks  were  as  thick 
as  trees,  and  were  wound  about  each  other. 
It  was  like  a  green  ladder,  and  Jack  at  once 
wished  to  climb  to  the  top. 

He  ran  in  to  tell  his  mother,  but  she 
begged  him  not  to  climb  the  bean-stalk.  She 
did  not  know  what  would  happen.  She  was 
afraid  to  have  him  go.  Who  ever  saw  such 
bean-stalks  before  ? 

But  Jack  had  set  his  heart  on  climbing, 
and  he  told  his  mother  not  to  be  afraid.  He 
would  soon  see  what  it  all  meant.  So  up  he 
climbed.  He  climbed  for  hours.  He  went 
higher  and  higher,  and  at  last,  quite  tired  out, 
he  reached  the  top. 


84  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

II. 
JACK    CAPTURES   A    HEN. 

THEN  he  looked  about  him.  It  was  all 
new.  He  had  never  seen  such  a  place  before. 
There  was  not  a  tree  or  plant ;  there  was  no 
house  or  shed.  Some  stones  lay  here  and 
there,  and  there  were  little  piles  of  earth. 
He  could  not  see  a  living  person. 

Jack  sat  down  on  one  of  the  stones.  He 
wished  he  were  at  home  again.  He  thought 
of  his  mother.  He  was  hungry,  and  he  did 
not  know  where  to  get  anything  to  eat.  He 
walked  and  walked,  and  hoped  he  might  see 
a  house. 

He  saw  no  house,  but  at  last  he  saw,  far 
off,  a  lady  walking  alone.  He  ran  toward 
her,  and  when  he  came  near,  he  pulled  off  his 
cap  and  made  a  bow.  She  was  a  beautiful 
lady,  and  she  carried  in  her  hand  a  stick.  A 
peacock  of  fine  gold  sat  on  top  of  the  stick. 

The  lady  smiled  and  asked  Jack  how  he 
came  there.  He  told  her  all  about  the  bean- 
stalk. Then  she  said :  — 

"  Do  you  remember  your  father  ?  " 


JACK  AND   THE  BEAN-STALK.  95 

"  No,"  said  Jack.  "  I  do  not  know  what 
became  of  him.  When  I  speak  of  him  to  my 
mother,  she  cries,  but  she  tells  me  nothing." 

"  She  dare  not,"  said  the  lady,  "  but  I  will 
tell  you.  I  am  a  fairy.  I  was  set  to  take 
care  of  your  father,  but  one  day  I  was  care- 
less. So  I  lost  my  power  for  a  few  years, 
and  just  when  your  father  needed  me  most  I 
could  not  help  him,  and  he  died." 

Jack  saw  that  she  was  very  sorry  as  she 
told  this  story,  but  he  begged  her  to  go  on. 

"  I  will,"  she  said,  "  and  you  may  now  help 
your  mother.  But  you  must  do  just  as  I  tell 
you." 

Jack  promised. 

"  Your  father  was  a  good,  kind  man.  He 
had  a  good  wife,  he  had  money,  and  he  had 
friends.  But  he  had  one  false  friend.  This 
was  a  giant.  Your  father  had  once  helped 
this  giant,  but  the  giant  was  cruel.  He  killed 
your  father  and  took  all  his  money.  And  he 
told  your  mother  she  must  never  teU  you 
about  your  father.  If  she  did,  then  the  giant 
would  kill  her  and  kill  you  too. 

"You  were  a  little  child  then,  and  your 
mother  carried  you  away  in  her  arms.  I 


96  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

could  not  help  her  then,  but  my  power  came 
back  to  me  yesterday.  So  I  made  you  go 
off  with  the  cow,  and  I  made  you  take  the 
beans,  and  I  made  you  climb  the  bean-stalk. 

"  This  is  the  land  where  the  giant  lives. 
You  must  find  him  and  rid  the  world  of  him. 
All  that  he  has  is  yours,  for  he  took  it  from 
your  father.  Now  go.  You  must  keep  on  this 
road  till  you  see  a  great  house.  The  giant 
lives  there.  I  cannot  tell  you  what  you  must 
do  next,  but  I  will  help  you  when  the  time 
comes.  But  you  must  not  tell  your  mother 
anything." 

The  fairy  disappeared  and  Jack  set  out. 
He  walked  all  day,  and  when  the  sun  set,  he 
came  to  the  giant's  house.  He  went  up  to  it 
and  saw  a  plain  woman  by  the  door.  This 
was  the  giant's  wife.  Jack  spoke  to  her  and 
asked  her  if  she  would  give  him  something 
to  eat  and  a  place  where  he  could  sleep. 

"  What !  "  she  said.  "  Do  you  not  know  ? 
My  husband  is  a  giant.  He  is  away  now,  but 
he  will  be  back  soon.  He  sometimes  walks 
fifty  miles  in  a  day  to  see  if  he  can  find  a  man 
Of  a  boy.  He  eats  people.  He  will  eat  yon 
ii  lie  finds  you  here." 


JACK  AND   THE  BEAN-STALK.  97 

Jack  was  in  great  fear,  but  he  would  not 
give  up.  He  asked  the  giant's  wife  to  hide 
him  somewhere  in  the  house.  She  was  a  kind 
woman,  so  she  led  him  in.  They  went 
through  a  great  hall,  and  then  through  some 
large  rooms.  All  was  grand  and  gloomy. 
They  came  to  a  dark  passage,  and  went 
through  it.  There  was  a  little  light,  and 
Jack  could  see  bars  of  iron  at  the  side.  Be- 
hind the  bars  were  wretched  people.  They 
were  the  prisoners  of  the  giant. 

Poor  Jack  thought  of  his  mother  and 
wished  himself  at  home  again.  He  began  to 
think  the  giant's  wife  was  as  bad  as  the  giant, 
and  had  brought  him  in  to  shut  him  up  here. 
Then  he  thought  of  his  father  and  marched 
boldly  on. 

They  came  to  a  room  where  a  table  was 
set.  Jack  sat  down  and  began  to  eat.  He 
was  very  hungry  and  soon  forgot  his  fears. 
But  while  he  was  eating,  there  came  a  loud 
knock  at  the  outside  door.  It  was  so  loud 
that  the  whole  house  shook.  The  giant's 
wife  turned  pale. 

"What  shall  I  do?"  she  cried.  "It  is 
the  giant.  He  will  kill  you  and  kill  me  too  f 
What  shall  I  do  ?  " 


98  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  Hide  me  in  the  oven,"  said  Jack.  There 
was  no  fire  under  it,  and  Jack  lay  in  the  oven 
and  looked  out.  The  giant  came  in  and 
scolded  his  wife,  and  then  he  sat  down  and 
ate  and  drank  for  a  long  time.  Jack  thought 
he  never  would  finish.  At  last  the  giant 
leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  called  out  in  a 
great  voice  :  — 

"  Bring  me  my  hen  !  " 

His  wife  brought  a  beautiful  hen  and  placed 
it  on  the  table. 

"  Lay  !  "  roared  the  giant,  and  the  hen  laid 
an  egg  of  solid  gold. 

"  Lay  another  !  "  and  the  hen  laid  another. 
So  it  went  on.  Each  time  the  hen  laid  a 
larger  egg  than  before.  The  giant  played 
with  the  hen  for  some  time.  Then  he  sent 
his  wife  to  bed,  but  he  sat  in  his  chair.  Soon 
he  fell  asleep,  and  then  Jack  crept  out  of  the 
oven  and  seized  the  hen.  He  ran  out  of  the 
house  and  down  the  road.  He  kept  on  till 
he  came  again  to  the  bean-stalk,  and  climbed 
down  to  his  old  home. 


JACK  AND  THE  BEAN-STALK.  99 

m. 
THE  GIANT'S  MONEY-BAGS. 

JACK'S  mother  was  very  glad  to  see  him. 
She  was  afraid  he  had  come  to  some  ill  end. 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,  mother,"  said  he.  "  Look 
here !  "  and  he  showed  her  the  hen.  "  Lay ! " 
he  said  to  the  hen,  and  the  hen  laid  an  egg 
of  gold. 

Jack  and  his  mother  now  had  all  they 
needed,  for  they  had  only  to  tell  the  hen  to 
lay,  and  she  laid  her  golden  egg.  They  sold 
the  egg  and  had  money  enough.  But  Jack 
kept  thinking  of  his  father,  and  he  longed  to 
make  another  trial.  He  had  told  his  mother 
about  the  giant  and  his  wife,  but  he  had  said 
nothing  about  the  fairy  and  his  father. 

His  mother  begged  Jack  not  to  climb  the 
bean-stalk  again.  She  said  the  giant's  wife 
would  be  sure  to  know  him,  and  he  never 
would  come  back  alive.  Jack  said  nothing, 
but  he  put  on  some  other  clothes  and  stained 
his  face  and  hands  another  color.  Then  one 
morning  he  rose  early  and  climbed  the  bean- 
stalk a  second  time. 


100         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

He  went  now  straight  to  the  giant's  house. 
The  giant's  wife  was  again  at  the  door,  but 
she  did  not  know  him.  He  begged  for  food 
and  a  place  to  sleep.  She  told  him  about 
the  giant,  and  then  she  said :  — 

"  There  was  once  a  boy  who  came  just  as 
you  have  come.  I  let  him  in,  and  he  stole 
the  giant's  hen  and  ran  away.  Ever  since 
the  giant  has  been  very  cruel  to  me.  No,  I 
cannot  let  you  come  in." 

But  Jack  begged  so  hard  that  at  last  she 
let  him  in.  She  led  him  through  the  house, 
and  he  saw  just  what  he  saw  before.  She 
gave  him  something  to  eat,  and  then  she  hid 
him  in  a  closet.  The  giant  came  along  in 
his  heavy  boots.  He  was  so  big,  that  the 
house  shook.  He  sat  by  the  fire  for  a  time. 
Then  he  looked  about  and  said  :  — 

"  Wife,  I  smell  fresh  meat." 

"  Yes,"  she  said.  "  The  crows  have  been 
flying  about.  They  left  some  raw  meat  on  top 
of  the  house."  Then  she  made  haste  and  got 
some  supper  for  the  giant.  He  kept  talking 
about  his  hen,  and  was  very  cross.  So  it  went 
on  as  before.  The  giant  ate  and  drank 
Then  he  called  to  his  wife :  — 


JACK  AND  THE  BEAN-STALK.         101 

"  Bring  me  something.  I  want  to  be 
amused.  You  let  that  rascal  steal  my  hen. 
Bring  me  something." 

"  What  shall  I  bring  ?  "  she  asked  meekly. 

"  Bring  me  my  money-bags ;  they  are  as 
heavy  as  anything."  So  she  tugged  two  great 
bags  to  the  table.  One  was  full  of  silver  and 
one  was  full  of  gold.  The  giant  sent  his  wife 
to  bed.  Then  he  untied  the  strings,  emptied 
his  bags,  and  counted  his  money.  Jack 
watched  him,  and  said  to  himself :  — 

"  That  is  my  father's  money." 

By  and  by  the  giant  was  tired.  He  put 
the  money  back  into  the  bags  and  tied  the 
strings,  and  then  he  went  to  sleep.  He  had 
a  dog  to  watch  his  money,  but  Jack  did  not 
see  the  dog.  So  when  the  giant  was  sound 
asleep,  Jack  came  out  of  the  closet  and  laid 
hold  of  the  bags. 

At  this  the  dog  barked,  and  Jack  thought 
his  end  had  come.  But  the  giant  did  not 
wake,  and  Jack  just  then  saw  a  bit  of  meat. 
He  gave  it  to  the  dog,  and  while  the  dog  was 
eating  it,  Jack  took  the  two  bags  and  was 
off. 


102         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

IV. 
THE   HARP. 

IT  was  two  whole  days  before  he  could 
reach  the  bean-stalk,  for  the  bags  were  very 
heavy.  Then  he  climbed  down  with  them. 
But  when  he  came  to  his  house  the  door  was 
locked.  No  one  was  inside,  and  he  knew  not 
what  to  do. 

After  a  while  he  found  an  old  woman  wha 
showed  him  where  his  mother  was.  She  was 
very  sick  in  another  house.  The  poor  thing 
had  been  made  ill  by  Jack's  going  away, 
but  now  that  he  had  come  back,  she  began  to 
get  well,  and  soon  she  was  in  her  own  house 
again. 

Jack  said  no  more  about  the  giant  and  the 
bean-stalk.  For  three  years  he  lived  with  his 
mother.  They  had  money  enough,  and  all 
seemed  well.  But  Jack  could  not  forget  his 
father.  He  sat  all  day  before  the  bean-stalk. 
His  mother  tried  hard  to  amuse  him,  and  she 
tried  to  find  out  what  he  was  thinking  about. 
He  did  not  tell  her,  for  he  knew  all  would 
then  go  wrong. 


JACK  AND   THE  BEAN-STALK.          103 

At  last  he  could  bear  it  no  longer.  He  had 
changed  in  looks  now,  and  he  changed  him- 
self still  more.  Then,  one  bright  summei 
morning,  very  early  in  the  day,  he  climbed 
the  bean-stalk  once  more.  The  giant's  wife 
did  not  know  him  when  he  came  to  the  door 
of  the  house,  but  he  had  hard  work  to  make 
her  let  him  in. 

This  time  he  was  hidden  in  the  copper 
boiler.  The  giant  again  came  home,  and  was 
in  a  great  rage. 

"  I  smell  fresh  meat !  "  he  cried.  His  wife 
could  do  nothing  with  him,  and  he  began  to 
go  about  the  room.  He  looked  into  the  oven, 
and  in  the  closet,  and  then  he  came  to  the 
great  boiler.  Jack  felt  his  heart  stop.  He 
thought  now  his  end  had  come,  surely.  But 
the  giant  did  not  lift  the  lid.  He  sat  down 
by  the  fire  and  had  his  supper. 

When  supper  was  over,  the  giant  told  his 
wife  to  bring  his  harp.  Jack  peeped  out  of 
the  copper  and  saw  a  most  beautiful  harp 
The  giant  placed  it  on  the  table,  and  said :  — • 

"  Play  I  " 

Jack  never  heard  such  music  as  the  harp 
played.  No  hands  touched  it.  It  played  all 


/04         THE  BOOK   OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

by  itself.  He  thought  he  would  rather  have 
this  harp  than  the  hen  or  all  the  money.  By 
and  by  the  harp  played  the  giant  to  sleep. 
Then  Jack  crept  out  and  seized  the  harp.  He 
was  running  off  with  it,  when  some  one  called 
loudly :  — 

"Master!  Master!" 

It  was  the  harp,  but  Jack  would  not  let  it 
go.  The  giant  started  up,  and  saw  Jack  with 
the  harp  running  down  the  road. 

"  Stop,  you  rascal !  "  he  shouted.  "  You 
stole  my  hen  and  my  money-bags.  Do  you 
steal  my  harp  ?  I  '11  catch  you,  and  I  will 
break  every  bone  in  your  body !  " 

"  Catch  me  if  you  can  !  "  said  Jack.  He 
knew  he  could  run  faster  than  the  giant.  Off 
they  went.  Jack  and  the  harp,  and  the  giant 
after  them.  Jack  came  to  the  bean-stalk. 
The  harp  was  all  the  while  playing  music,  but 
now  Jack  said :  — 

"  Stop ! "  and  the  harp  stopped  playing. 
He  hurried  down  the  bean-stalk  with  the 
harp.  There  sat  his  mother,  by  the  cottage, 
weeping. 

"  Do  not  cry,  mother,"  he  said.  "  Quick, 
bring  me  a  hatchet !  Make  haste  ! "  He 


DICK   WHITTINGTON  AND  HIS  CAT.     105 

knew  there  was  not  a  minute  to  spare.  The 
giant  was  already  coming  down.  He  was  half- 
way down  when  Jack  took  his  hatchet  and  cut 
the  bean-stalk  down,  close  to  its  roots.  Over 
fell  the  bean-stalk,  and  down  came  the  giant 
on  the  ground.  He  was  killed  on  the  spot. 

In  a  moment  the  fairy  was  seen.  She  told 
Jack's  mother  everything,  and  how  brave  he 
had  been.  And  that  was  the  end.  The  bean- 
stalk never  grew  again. 


DICK  WHITTINGTON  AND    HIS  CAT. 
I. 

DICK    GOES    TO    LONDON. 

IN  the  olden  times  there  lived  in  the  coun- 
try in  England  a  boy  by  the  name  of  Dick 
Whittington.  He  did  not  know  who  his 
parents  were,  for  he  had  been  born  and 
brought  up  in  the  poor-house.  There  he 
was  cruelly  treated,  and  when  he  was  seven 
years  of  age,  he  ran  away  and  lived  by  what 
he  could  get  from  kind  people. 


106         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

He  heard  that  the  streets  of  London  were 
paved  with  gold,  and  being  now  a  sturdy 
youth,  he  set  out  for  the  city  to  make  his  for- 
tune. He  did  not  know  the  way,  but  he  fell 
in  with  a  carter  who  was  bound  for  London, 
and  he  followed  the  cart.  When  night  came, 
he  helped  the  carter  by  rubbing  down  the 
horses,  and  for  this  was  paid  with  a  supper. 

He  trudged  on  thus  day  after  day  until 
they  came  to  the  famous  city.  The  carter 
was  afraid  Dick  would  hang  about  him  and 
give  him  trouble,  so  he  gave  him  a  penny 
and  told  him  to  begone  and  find  some  work. 

Dick  went  from  street  to  street,  but  he 
knew  no  one ;  he  was  ragged  and  forlorn, 
and  looked  like  a  beggar.  Nobody  gave  him 
anything  to  do.  Once  in  a  while  some  one 
gave  him  something  to  eat,  but  at  last  he  had 
nothing. 

For  two  days  he  went  about  hungry  and 
almost  starved,  but  he  would  rather  starve 
than  steal.  At  night,  at  the  end  of  the  sec- 
ond day,  he  came  to  a  merchant's  house  in 
Leadenhall  Street,  and  stood  before  it,  weary 
and  faint.  The  ill-natured  cook  saw  him  and 
came  out  and  said  :  — 


DICK   WHITTINGTON  AND  HIS  CAT.     107 

"  Go  away  from  here,  or  I  will  kick  you 
away  !  "  At  this  he  crept  off  a  little  distance 
and  lay  down  on  the  ground,  for  he  was  too 
weak  to  stand.  As  he  lay  there,  the  mer- 
chant who  lived  in  the  house  came  home  and 
stopped  to  speak  to  him.  He  spoke  sharply, 
and  told  him  to  get  up,  that  it  was  a  shame 
for  him  to  be  lying  there. 

Poor  Dick  got  up,  and  after  falling  once, 
through  faintness  and  want  of  food,  made 
out  to  say  that  he  was  a  poor  country  boy, 
nearly  starved.  He  would  do  any  work  if  he 
might  have  food. 

Mr.  Fitzwarren,  the  merchant,  saw  in  what 
a  wretched  plight  he  was,  and  took  pity  on 
him.  He  brought  him  into  the  house,  and 
bade  the  servants  look  after  him  ;  he  gave 
him  a  place  under  the  cook,  and  this  was  the 
beginning  of  Dick's  fortune.  But  Dick  had 
a  hard  time  of  it.  The  servants  made  sport 
of  him,  and  the  ill-natured  cook  said  :  — 

"  Do  you  know  what  you  are  to  do  ?  You 
are  to  come  under  me.  So  look  sharp ;  clean 
the  spits  and  the  pans,  make  the  fires,  wind 
up  the  roasting-jack,  and  do  nimbly  all  the 
dirty  work  I  set  you  about,  or  else  I  will 


108         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

break  your  head  with  my  ladle,  and  kick  you 
ahout  like  a  foot-ball." 

This  was  cold  comfort,  but  it  was  better 
than  starving.  What  gave  him  more  hope 
was  the  kind  notice  he  had  from  his  master's 
daughter,  Mistress  Alice.  She  heard  Dick's 
story  from  her  father,  and  called  for  the  boy. 
She  asked  him  questions,  and  he  was  so  honest 
in  his  answers,  that  she  went  to  her  father, 
and  said :  — 

"  That  poor  boy  whom  you  brought  into 
the  house  is  a  good,  honest  fellow.  I  am  sure 
he  will  be  very  useful.  He  can  clean  shoes, 
and  run  errands,  and  do  many  things  which 
our  servants  do  not  like  to  do." 


IL 

DICK'S  CAT. 

So  Dick  was  kept,  and  a  cot-bed  was  given 
him  in  the  garret.  He  was  up  early  and 
worked  late.  He  left  nothing  undone  that 
was  given  him  to  do.  For  all  that  he  could 
not  please  the  cook  who  was  very  sour  to  him. 
Still,  he  bore  her  blows  rather  than  leave  so 


DICK   WHITTINGTON  AND  HIS  CAT.     109 

good  a  home.  Then  the  cook  told  tales  about 
him,  and  tried  to  get  him  sent  away,  but  Mis- 
tress Alice  heard  of  it;  she  knew  how  ill- 
tempered  the  cook  was,  and  so  she  made  her 
father  keep  Dick. 

This  was  not  the  whole  of  Dick  Whitting- 
ton's  trouble.  The  garret  where  he  lay  at 
night  had  long  been  empty,  and  a  great  num- 
ber of  mice  had  made  their  home  in  it.  They 
ran  over  Dick's  face,  and  kept  up  such  a 
racket  that  he  knew  not  which  was  worse,  the 
cook  by  day  or  the  mice  by  night. 

He  could  only  hope  that  the  cook  might 
marry  or  get  tired  of  the  place,  and  that  he 
might  in  some  way  get  a  cat.  It  chanced, 
soon  after,  that  a  merchant  came  to  dinner, 
and  as  it  rained  hard,  he  stayed  all  night.  In 
the  morning  Dick  cleaned  the  merchant's 
shoes  and  brought  them  to  his  door.  For  this 
service  the  merchant  gave  him  a  penny. 

As  he  went  through  the  street  on  an  errand 
that  morning,  he  saw  a  woman  with  a  cat 
under  her  arm.  He  asked  her  the  price  of 
the  cat. 

"  It  is  a  good  mouser,"  said  the  woman ; 
"  you  may  have  it  for  a  sixpence." 


110         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  But  I  have  only  a  penny,"  said  Dick. 
The  woman  found  she  really  could  get  noth- 
ing more,  so  she  sold  the  cat  to  Dick  for  a 
penny.  He  brought  it  home,  and  kept  it  out 
rf  the  way  all  day  for  fear  the  cook  should 
lee  it ;  then  at  night  he  took  the  cat  up  to 
ihe  garret  and  made  her  work  for  her  living. 
Puss  soon  rid  him  of  one  plague. 

When  Mr.  Fitz warren  sent  out  a  ship  to 
trade  with  far  countries,  he  used  to  call  his 
servants  together  and  give  each  a  chance  to 
make  some  money,  by  sending  jut  goods  in 
the  ship.  He  thought  that  thus  his  ship  had 
better  fortune. 

Now  he  was  again  making  a  venture,  and 
each  of  the  servants  brought  something  to 
send ;  all  but  Whittington.  Mistress  Alice 
saw  that  he  did  not  come,  and  she  sent  for 
him,  meaning  to  give  him  some  simple  goods, 
that  he  too  might  have  a  share  in  the  venture. 

When,  after  many  excuses,  he  was  obliged 
to  appear,  he  fell  on  his  knees,  and  prayed 
them  not  to  jeer  at  a  poor  boy.  He  had 
nothing  he  could  claim  for  his  own  but  a  cat, 
which  he  had  bought  with  a  penny  given  him 
ror  cleaning  shoes. 


DICK   WHITTINGTON  AND  HIS   CAT.     Ill 

Upon  this  Mistress  Alice  offered  to  lay 
something  down  for  him  ;  but  her  father  told 
her  the  custom  was  for  each  to  send  something 
of  his  own.  So  he  bade  Dick  bring  his  cat, 
which  he  did  with  many  tears,  and  gave  him 
over  to  the  master  of  the  ship. 

The  cook,  and  indeed  all  the  servants,  after 
this  plagued  Dick  so  sorely,  and  jeered  at 
him  so  much  for  sending  his  cat,  that  he  could 
bear  it  no  longer.  He  said  to  himself  that  he 
would  leave  the  house  and  try  his  fortune 
elsewhere. 

III. 

BOW   BELLS. 

HE  packed  his  bundle  one  night,  and  the 
next  day  early  set  forth  to  seek  his  fortune. 
He  left  the  house  behind  him,  but  his  heart 
began  to  sink.  However,  he  would  not  turn 
back,  and  he  kept  on,  but  at  last  sat  down  in 
the  field  to  think. 

Just  then  the  Bow  Bells,  that  is,  the  bells 
of  a  church  in  Bow  Street,  began  to  ring  mer- 
rily. Dick  heard  them,  and  as  they  rang,  he 
fancied  he  heard  them  sing,  — 


112         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  Turn  again,  Whittington, 
Lord  Mayor  of  London." 

That  was  a  fine  song  to  hear,  and  Dick 
began  to  pluck  up  heart  again.  Still  the  bells 
rang.  It  was  very  early ;  no  one  was  yet  astir 
at  the  merchant's  house,  and  Dick,  with  new 
courage,  took  up  his  bundle,  obeyed  the  bells, 
and  walked  quickly  back  to  the  house.  He 
had  left  the  door  open,  so  he  crept  in  and 
took  up  his  daily  task. 

Now,  about  this  time,  the  ship  which  car- 
ried Dick's  cat  was  driven  by  the  winds,  and 
came  to  a  place  on  the  Barbary  coast,  where 
the  English  seldom  went.  The  people  received 
the  master  of  the  ship  well,  and  he  traded  with 
them.  As  his  wares  were  new,  they  were  very 
welcome,  and  at  last  the  king  of  that  country, 
being  greatly  pleased,  sent  for  the  captain  to 
come  and  dine  at  the  palace. 

The  dinner,  after  the  custom  of  the  coun- 
try, was  not  set  on  a  table,  but  the  cloth  was 
laid  on  the  floor.  The  guests  sat  cross-legged 
before  the  feast.  But  when  the  dishes  were 
set  down,  the  smell  of  the  dinner  brought  a 
great  company  of  rats,  and  these  rats  helped 
themselves  without  fear. 


DICK   WHITTINGTON  AND  HIS  CAT.     113 

The  master  of  the  ship  was  amazed,  and 
asked  the  nobles  who  sat  there,  if  it  was  not 
very  unpleasant  to  have  this  swarm  of  rats. 

"  Oh,"  said  they,  "  very  much  so.  The 
king  would  give  half  his  wealth  to  be  rid  of 
them.  They  not  only  come  to  the  table,  but 
they  make  free  with  his  chamber  and  even  his 
bed." 

"  Well,"  said  the  captain,  thinking  at  once 
of  Dick's  cat,  "  I  have  an  English  beast  on 
board  my  ship  which  will  quickly  clear  the 
palace  of  all  the  rats." 

"Say  you  so?"  said  the  king,  when  he 
heard  of  this.  "  For  such  a  thing  I  will  load 
your  ship  with  gold,  diamonds,  and  pearls." 
At  that  the  shrewd  captain  made  much  of  the 
cat. 

"  She  is  the  most  famous  thing  in  the 
world,"  said  he.  "I  cannot  spare  her, for  she 
keeps  my  ship  clear  of  rats,  or  else  they  would 
spoil  all  my  goods."  But  the  king  would  not 
take  no  for  an  answer. 

"  No  price  shall  part  us,"  he  said.  So  the 
cat  was  sent  for,  and  the  table  was  again 
spread.  The  rats  came  as  before,  but  the  cap- 
tain let  the  cat  loose,  and  she  made  short  work 


114         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

of  them.  Then  she  came  purring  and  curling 
up  her  tail  before  the  king,  as  if  she  would 
have  her  reward. 

The  king  was  so  pleased  with  the  cat  that 
he  gave  ten  times  more  for  her  than  for  all  the 
goods  in  the  ship.  Then  the  ship  sailed  away 
with  a  fair  wind,  and  arrived  safe  at  London. 
She  was  the  richest  ship  that  ever  entered 
port. 

IV. 

LORD   MAYOR   WHITTINGTON. 

THE  master  took  the  box  of  pearls  and 
jewels  with  him  on  shore,  and  went  straight 
to  the  merchant's  house.  He  gave  his  account 
to  Mr.  Fitzwarren,  who  was  greatly  pleased  at 
the  fortunate  voyage,  and  called  his  servants 
together,  to  receive  each  their  profit.  Then 
the  master  showed  the  box  of  pearls  and  jew- 
els, and  told  the  story  of  Whittington's  cat, 
and  how  Puss  had  earned  this  wealth. 

"  Call  Mr.  Whittington,"  said  Mr.  Fitz- 
warren. "  I  will  not  take  one  farthing  from 
him."  Now  Dick  was  in  the  kitchen  cleaning 
pots  and  pans.  When  he  was  told  that  the 


DICK    WHITTINGTON  AND  HIS  CAT.     115 

merchant  had  sent  for  Mr.  Whittington,  he 
thought  every  one  was  making  fun  of  him, 
and  he  would  not  go. 

At  last,  since  no  excuse  would  be  taken,  he 
went  as  far  as  the  door.  The  merchant  bads 
him  come  in,  and  placed  a  chair  for  him. 
At  that  poor  Dick  was  sure  they  were  mak* 
ing  fun  of  him,  and  the  tears  came  into  his 
eyes. 

"  I  am  only  a  simple  fellow,"  he  said.  "  I 
do  not  mean  harm  to  any  one.  Do  not  mock 
me." 

"  Indeed,  Mr.  Whittington,  we  are  serious 
with  you,"  said  the  merchant.  "  You  are  a 
much  richer  man  than  I  am,"  and  he  gave 
him  the  box  of  pearls  and  jewels  worth  quite 
three  hundred  thousand  pounds. 

At  first  Dick  could  not  believe  his  good 
fortune.  When  at  last  he  was  persuaded,  he 
fell  upon  his  knees  and  thanked  God  who  had 
been  so  good  to  him.  Then  he  turned  to  his 
master  and  wished  to  give  him  of  his  wealth, 
but  Mr.  Fitzwarren  said  :  — 

"  No,  Mr.  Whittington.  I  will  not  take  a 
penny  from  you.  It  is  all  yours."  At  that 
Dick  turned  to  Mistress  Alice,  who  also  re- 
fused. He  bowed  low,  and  said  :  — 


116         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  Madam,  whenever  you  please  to  make 
choice  of  a  husband,  I  will  make  you  the 
greatest  fortune  in  the  world."  Then  he  gave 
freely  to  his  fellow -servants.  Even  to  his 
enemy,  the  cook,  he  gave  a  hundred  pounds. 

Richard  Whittington  was  now  a  rich  man. 
He  laid  aside  his  poor  clothes,  and  was  dressed 
well  and  handsomely.  He  had  grown  strong 
and  tall  in  service,  and  was  indeed  a  fine  man 
to  look  upon. 

It  was  seen,  too,  that  he  was  well  behaved, 
and  of  a  good  mind  and  heart.  Mr.  Fitz- 
warren  made  him  known  to  the  other  mer- 
chants, and  let  him  see  how  business  was 
carried  on.  Then  seeing  that  he  was  as  hon- 
est and  good  as  he  was  rich,  he  told  Whit- 
tington that  he  might  have  his  daughter  in 
maxriage. 

At  first,  Dick  felt  himself  unworthy  of 
Mistress  Alice,  but  he  saw  that  she  looked 
kindly  on  him,  and  he  remembered  how  good 
she  had  been  to  him  from  the  beginning.  So 
\e  made  bold  to  ask  Mistress  Alice  to  be  his 
fcrife,  and  they  had  a  grand  wedding. 

After  the  wedding  was  over,  Mr.  Fitzwar- 
ren  asked  him  what  he  meant  to  do,  and  Mr. 


DICK   WHITTINGTON  AND  HIS  CAT.     117 

Whittington  said  he  would  like  to  be  a  mer- 
chant. So  the  two  became  partners,  and  grew 
to  be  very  rich. 

Rich  as  he  was,  this  merchant  never  forgot 
that  he  was  once  poor  Dick  Whittington. 
The  promise  of  Bow  Bells  came  true,  and 
three  times  he  was  chosen  Lord  Mayor  of 
London.  He  fed  the  hungry,  and  cared  for 
the  poor. 

When  he  was  Lord  Mayor  of  London  the 
third  time,  it  was  his  duty  to  receive  King 
Henry  V.  and  his  Queen  at  Guildhall,  which 
was  the  Mayor's  palace.  It  was  just  after  a 
famous  war  with  France,  which  England  had 
won. 

The  king,  at  the  feast,  made  the  lord 
mayor  a  knight,  so  that  now  he  was  Sir 
Richard  Whittington.  There  was  a  very 
pleasant  fire  on  the  hearth  at  the  time.  It 
was  made  of  choice  wood,  and  mace  and  other 
spices  were  mixed  with  the  wood.  The  king 
praised  the  fire,  and  Sir  Richard  said  :  — 

"  I  will  make  it  still  more  pleasant."  At 
that  he  threw  upon  the  flames  one  piece  of 
paper  after  another.  They  were  the  written 
promises  of  the  king  to  pay  for  money  lent  to 


118         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

him  by  London  merchants  when  he  was  car* 
rying  on  the  war.  Sir  Richard  had  bought 
them  for  sixty  thousand  pounds.  This  was 
the  way  he  paid  the  king's  debt,  for  now  there 
was  nothing  to  show  that  the  king  owed  any- 
thing. 

This  is  the  story  of  Dick  Whittington  and 
his  cat.  How  much  is  true,  and  how  much 
was  made  up,  I  do  not  know,  for  what  hap- 
pened took  place  five  hundred  years  ago. 


TOM  THUMR 
I. 

TOM   IS    SOLD    FOR    A   BARGAIN. 

A  POOR  woodman  once  sat  by  the  fire  in 
his  cottage,  and  his  wife  sat  by  his  side, 
spinning. 

"  How  lonely  it  is,"  said  he,  "  for  you  and 
me  to  sit  here  by  ourselves  without  any  chil- 
dren to  play  about  and  amuse  us." 

"  What  you  say  is  very  true,"  said  his  wife, 
as  she  turned  her  wheel.  "  How  happy  should 


TOM  THUMB.  119 

I  be,  if  I  had  but  one  child.  If  it  were  ever 
so  small,  if  it  were  no  bigger  than  my  thumb, 
I  should  be  very  happy  and  love  it  dearly." 

Now  it  came  to  pass  that  the  good  woman 
had  her  wish,  for  some  time  afterward  she 
had  a  little  boy  who  was  healthy  and  strong, 
but  not  much  bigger  than  her  thumb.  So 
they  said  :  — 

"Well,  we  cannot  say  we  have  not  got 
what  we  wished  for,  and,  little  as  he  is,  we 
will  love  him  dearly ; "  and  they  called  him 
Tom  Thumb.  They  gave  him  plenty  to  eat, 
yet  he  never  grew  bigger,  but  remained  just 
the  same  size  as  when  he  was  born  ;  still 
his  eyes  were  sharp  and  sparkling,  and  he 
soon  showed  himself  to  be  a  bright  little  fel- 
low, who  always  knew  what  he  was  about. 

One  day  the  woodman  was  getting  ready 
to  go  into  the  wood  to  cut  fuel,  and  he 
said:  — 

"  I  wish  I  had  some  one  to  bring  the  cart 
after  me,  for  I  want  to  make  haste." 

"  0  father,"  cried  Tom,  "  I  will  take  care 
of  that ;  the  cart  shall  be  in  the  wood  by 
the  time  you  want  it."  The  woodman  laughed 
and  said :  — 


120         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  How  can  that  be  ?  You  cannot  reach  up 
to  the  horse's  bridle." 

"  Never  mind  that,  father.  If  my  mother 
will  only  harness  the  horse,  I  will  get  into 
his  ear,  and  tell  him  which  way  to  go." 

"Well,"  said  the  father,  "we  will  try  for 
once." 

When  the  time  came,  the  mother  harnessed 
the  horse  to  the  cart,  and  put  Tom  into  his 
ear.  There  the  little  man  sat  and  told  the 
beast  how  to  go,  crying  out,  "  Go  on,"  and 
"  Stop,"  as  he  wanted.  So  the  horse  went  on 
just  as  if  the  woodman  were  driving  it  himself. 

It  happened  that  the  horse  fell  to  trotting 
too  fast,  and  Tom  called  out,  "  Gently,  gen- 
tly." Just  then  two  strangers  came  up. 

"How  odd  it  is,"  one  of  them  said.  "  There 
is  a  cart  going  along,  and  I  hear  a  carter  talk- 
ing to  the  horse,  but  I  see  no  one." 

"  That  is  strange,"  said  the  other.  "  Let 
us  follow  the  cart  and  see  where  it  goes." 
They  went  on  into  the  wood,  and  came  at 
last  to  the  place  where  the  woodman  was. 
The  cart  drove  up  and  Tom  said :  — 

"  See,  father,  here  I  am  with  the  cart,  safe 
jud  sound.  Now,  take  me  down." 


TOM  THUMB.  121 

So  his  father  took  hold  of  the  horse  with 
one  hand,  and  lifted  his  son  down  with  the 
other.  He  put  him  on  a  little  stick  where  he 
was  as  merry  as  you  please.  The  two  stran- 
gers looked  on  and  saw  it  all,  and  did  not 
know  what  to  say  for  wonder.  At  last  one 
took  the  other  aside  and  said  :  — 

"  That  little  chap  will  make  our  fortune  if 
we  can  get  him,  and  carry  him  about  from 
town  to  town  as  a  show.  We  must  buy  him." 
Then  they  went  to  the  woodman  and  asked 
him  what  he  would  take  for  the  little  man. 
"  He  will  be  better  off  with  us  than  with  you," 
they  said. 

"  I  '11  not  sell  him  at  all,"  said  the  father. 
"  My  own  flesh  and  blood  is  dearer  to  me 
than  all  the  silver  and  gold  in  the  world." 

But  Tom  heard  what  was  said,  and  crept  up 
his  father's  coat  to  his  shoulder,  and  spoke  in 
his  ear :  — 

"  Take  the  money,  father,  and  let  them 
have  me.  I  '11  soon  come  back  to  you."  So 
the  woodman  at  last  agreed  to  sell  Tom 
Thumb  to  the  strangers  for  a  large  piece  of 
gold. 

"  Where  do  you  like  to  sit  ?  "  one  of  them 
asked  Tom. 


122          THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  Oh,  put  me  on  the  rim  of  your  hat ;  that 
will  be  a  nice  place  for  me.  I  can  walk 
about  there  and  see  the  country  as  we  go 
along." 

They  did  as  he  wished.  Tom  took  leave  of 
his  father,  and  went  off  with  the  two  strangers. 
They  kept  on  their  way  till  it  began  to  grow 
dark.  Then  Tom  said  :  — 

"  Let  me  get  down,  I  am  tired."  So  the 
man  took  off  his  hat  and  set  him  down  on  a 
lump  of  earth  in  a  ploughed  field  by  the  side 
of  the  road.  But  Tom  ran  about  among  the 
furrows,  and  at  last  slipped  into  an  old  mouse- 
hole. 

"  Good-night,  masters.  I  'm  off,"  said  he. 
"  Look  sharp  after  me  next  time."  They  ran 
to  the  place  and  poked  tne  ends  of  their  sticks 
into  the  mouse-hole,  but  all  in  vain.  Tom 
crawled  farther  in.  They  could  not  get  him, 
and  as  it  was  now  quite  dark  they  went  away 
very  cross. 

II. 

HOW  TOM  FRIGHTENED  THE  THIEVES. 

WHEN  Tom  found  they  were  gone,  he  crept 
out  of  his  hiding-place. 


TOM  THUMB.  123 

"  How  dangerous  it  is,"  said  he,  "  to  walk 
about  in  this  ploughed  field.  If  I  were  to 
fall  from  one  of  those  big  lumps  I  should 
surely  break  my  neck."  At  last,  by  good 
luck,  he  found  a  large,  empty  snail-shell. 

"  This  is  lucky,"  said  he.  "  I  can  sleep 
here  very  well ; "  and  in  he  crept.  Just  as  he 
was  falling  asleep  he  heard  two  men  pass  by, 
and  one  said  to  the  other  :  — 

"  How  shall  we  manage  to  steal  that  rich 
farmer's  silver  and  gold  ?  " 

"  I  '11  tell  you ! "  cried  Tom. 

"  What  noise  was  that  ?  I  am  sure  I  heard 
some  one  speak,"  said  the  thief.  He  was  in  a 
great  fright.  They  both  stood  listening,  and 
Tom  spoke  up  :  — 

"  Take  me  with  you,  and  I  will  soon  show 
you  how  to  get  the  farmer's  money." 

"  But  where  are  you  ?  " 

"Look  about  on  the  ground,  and  listen 
where  the  sound  comes  from." 

"  What  a  little  chap  !  What  can  you  do 
for  us?" 

"  Why,  I  can  get  between  the  iron  win- 
dow bars,  and  throw  you  out  whatever  you 
want." 


124         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  That  is  a  good  thought.  Come  along ;  we 
will  see  what  you  can  do." 

When  they  came  to  the  farmer's  house, 
Tom  slipped  through  the  bars  into  the  room, 
and  then  called  out  as  loud  as  he  could :  — 

"  Will  you  have  aU  that  is  here  ?  " 

"  Softly,  softly ! "  said  the  thieves.  "  Speak 
low,  or  you  will  wake  somebody." 

Tom  made  as  if  he  did  not  understand  them, 
and  bawled  out  again  :  — 

"  How  much  will  you  have  ?  Shall  I  throw 
it  all  out?" 

Now  the  cook  lay  in  the  next  room,  and 
hearing  a  noise,  she  raised  herself  in  her  bed 
and  listened.  But  the  thieves  had  been 
thrown  into  a  fright  and  had  run  away.  By 
and  by  they  plucked  up  courage,  and  said :  — 

"  That  little  fellow  is  only  trying  to  make 
fools  of  us."  So  they  came  back  and  spoke 
low  to  him,  saying:  "Now  let  us  have  no 
more  of  your  jokes,  but  throw  out  some  of 
the  money."  Then  Tom  called  out  again  as 
loud  as  he  could :  — 

"  Very  well !  Hold  your  hands ;  here  it 
comes." 

The  cook  heard  this  plainly;   she  sprang 


TOM  THUMB.  125 

out  of  bed,  and  ran  to  open  the  door.  The 
thieves  ran  off  as  if  a  wolf  were  after  them, 
and  the  cook  could  see  nothing  hi  the  dark. 
So  she  went  back  for  a  light,  and  while  she 
was  gone,  Tom  slipped  off  into  the  barn. 

The  cook  looked  about  and  searched  every 
hole  and  corner,  but  found  nobody  ;  she  went 
back  to  bed,  and  thought  she  must  have  been 
dreaming  with  her  eyes  open.  Tom  crawled 
about  in  the  hayloft,  and  at  last  found  a  good 
place  to  rest  in.  He  meant  to  sleep  till  day- 
light, and  then  find  his  way  home  to  his 
father  and  mother. 


m. 

INSIDE    A    COW. 

Poor  Tom  Thumb  !  his  troubles  were  only 
begun.  The  cook  got  up  early  to  feed  the 
cows.  She  went  straight  to  the  hayloft,  and 
carried  away  a  large  bundle  of  hay  with  the 
little  man  in  the  middle  of  it  fast  asleep.  He 
slept  on  and  did  not  wake  till  he  found  him- 
self in  the  mouth  of  a  cow.  She  had  taken 
him  up  with  a  mouthful  of  hay. 


126          THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  Dear  me,"  said  he,  "  how  did  I  manage 
to  tumble  into  the  mill  ?  "  But  he  soon 
found  out  where  he  really  was,  and  he  had  to 
keep  all  his  wits  about  him  or  he  would  have 
fallen  between  the  cow's  teeth,  and  then  he 
would  have  been  crushed  to  death.  At  last 
he  went  down  into  her  stomach. 

"  It  is  rather  dark  here,"  said  he ;  "  they 
forgot  to  build  windows  in  this  room  to  let 
the  sun  in ;  a  candle  would  be  no  bad  thing." 
Thus  he  made  the  best  of  his  bad  luck,  but 
he  did  not  like  his  resting  place  at  all.  The 
worst  of  it  was,  that  more  and  more  hay  was 
always  coming  down,  and  there  was  less  and 
less  room  to  turn  round  in.  At  last  he  cried 
out  as  loud  as  he  could :  — 

"  Don't  bring  me  any  more  hay !  don't 
bring  me  any  more  hay !  "  The  cook  hap- 
pened just  then  to  be  milking  the  cow.  She 
heard  some  one  speak,  but  she  saw  nobody. 
Yet  she  was  sure  it  was  the  same  voice  she 
had  heard  in  the  night.  It  put  her  into  such 
a  fright  that  she  fell  off  her  stool  and  upset 
her  milk-pail.  She  ran  off  as  fast  as  she 
could  to  the  farmer,  and  said  :  — 

"  Sir,  sir,  the  cow  is  talking."  But  the1 
farmer  said :  — 


TOM  THUMB.  127 

"  Woman,  thou  art  surely  mad."  Still,  he 
went  with  her  into  the  cow-house  to  see  what 
was  the  matter.  Just  as  they  went  in,  Tom 
cried  out  again  :  — 

"  Don't  bring  me  any  more  hay  !  don't 
bring  me  any  more  hay  !  "  Then  the  far- 
mer was  in  a  fright.  He  was  sure  the  cow 
must  be  mad,  so  he  gave  orders  to  have  her 
killed  at  once.  The  cow  was  killed,  and  the 
stomach  with  Tom  in  it  was  thrown  into  the 
barn-yard. 

IV. 
SAFE   AT   HOME   AGAIN. 

Tom  soon  set  himself  to  work  to  get  out, 
and  that  was  not  a  very  easy  task.  But  at 
last,  just  as  he  made  room  to  get  his  head 
out,  a  new  ill  befell  him.  A  hungry  wolf 
was  prowling  about,  and  at  that  moment 
seized  the  stomach  with  Tom  in  it,  and  swal- 
lowed it.  Off  he  ran,  but  Tom  was  not  cast 
down.  He  began  to  chat  with  the  wolf,  and 
called  out :  — 

"  My  good  friend,  I  can  show  you  a  famous 
treat." 


128         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"Where  is  that?" 

"  In  the  house  near  the  wood.  You  can 
crawl  through  the  drain  into  the  kitchen, 
and  there  you  will  find  cakes,  ham,  beef, 
and  everything  that  is  nice."  Now,  this  was 
the  house  where  Tom  Thumb  lived.  The 
wolf  did  not  need  to  be  asked  twice.  That 
very  night  he  went  to  the  house  and 
crawled  through  the  drain  into  the  kitchen, 
and  there  he  ate  and  drank  to  his  heart's 
content. 

After  a  while  he  had  eaten  so  much  that  he 
was  ready  to  go  away.  But  now  he  could  not 
squeeze  through  the  drain.  This  was  just 
what  Tom  had  thought  of,  and  the  little  chap 
set  up  a  great  shout. 

"  Will  you  be  quiet  ? "  said  the  wolf. 
"  You  will  wake  everybody  in  the  house." 

"  What  is  that  to  me?"  said  the  little  man. 
"  You  have  had  your  frolic ;  now  I  have  a 
mind  to  be  merry  myself ; "  and  he  began 
again  to  sing  and  shout  as  loud  as  he  could. 

The  woodman  and  his  wife  were  awaked 
by  the  noise,  and  peeped  through  a  crack 
into  the  kitchen.  When  they  saw  a  wolf 
there,  you  may  be  sure  they  were  in  a  great 


TOM  THUMB.  129 

fright.     The  woodman  ran  for  his  axe,  and 
gave  his  wife  a  scythe. 

"  Now,  do  you  stay  behind,"  said  the  wood- 
man. "  When  I  have  knocked  the  wolf  on 
the  head,  you  run  at  him  with  the  scythe." 
Tom  heard  all  this,  and  said  :  — 

"Father!  father!  I  am  here.  The  wolf 
has  swallowed  me." 

"  Now,  Heaven  be  praised ! "  said  the 
woodman.  "  We  have  found  our  dear  child 
again.  Do  not  use  the  scythe,  wife,  for  you 
may  hurt  him."  Then  he  aimed  a  great  blow, 
and  struck  the  wolf  on  the  head,  and  killed 
him  at  once.  They  opened  him,  and  set  Tom 
Thumb  free. 

"  Ah  !  "  said  his  father,  "  what  fears  we 
have  had  for  you  !  " 

"  Yes,  father,"  he  answered.  "  I  have 
travelled  all  over  the  world  since  we  parted, 
and  now  I  am  very  glad  to  get  fresh  air 
again." 

"  Why,  where  have  you  been  ?  " 

"  I  have  been  in  a  mouse-hole,  in  a  snail- 
shell,  down  a  cow's  throat,  and  inside  the 
wolf,  and  yet  here  I  am  again,  safe  and 
sound." 


130         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  Well,  well,"  said  his  father.  "  We  will 
not  sell  you  again  for  all  the  riches  in  the 
world." 

So  they  hugged  and  kissed  their  dear  little 
son,  and  gave  him  plenty  to  eat  and  drink, 
and  bought  him  new  clothes,  for  his  old  ones 
had  been  quite  spoiled  on  his  journey. 


THE  WHITE  CAT. 

I. 
THE   PALACE    OF   THE   WHITE    CAT. 

A  KING  had  three  sons,  handsome,  brave, 
and  generous.  Some  persons  about  the  court, 
however,  made  the  king  believe  that  these 
sons  of  his  were  eager  to  have  him  die  or 
leave  the  throne,  because  they  each  wanted 
to  be  king.  This  was  not  at  all  true,  but 
the  king  believed  it,  and  made  a  plan  to  get 
them  out  of  the  way.  He  sent  for  them,  and 
said:  — 

"  My  dear  sons,  you  must  see  that  I  am 
growing  old,  and  cannot  attend  to  state  affairs 


THE  WHITE  CAT.  131 

as  I  once  used  to.  It  is  right  that  I  should 
make  one  of  you  king  in  my  stead ;  but  first 
I  should  like  something  to  amuse  me  when  I 
am  no  longer  king.  I  think  I  should  like 
best  a  little  dog.  Now,  the  one  of  you  who 
brings  me  the  most  perfect  little  dog  shall  be 
king  in  my  stead." 

The  princes  were  much  surprised  at  the 
fancy  of  their  father  to  have  a  little  dog,  but 
they  all  agreed  to  do  as  he  had  asked.  They 
bade  him  good -by,  and  promised  to  come 
back  in  a  year.  They  went  off  together  to  an 
old  palace  three  miles  away.  There  they  had 
something  to  eat,  and  then  set  off  on  separate 
roads.  But  they  agreed  to  meet  again  at  the 
palace  at  the  end  of  the  year. 

Now,  we  will  see  what  happened  to  the 
youngest  of  the  three  brothers.  He  went 
from  town  to  town  looking  for  handsome 
dogs.  He  bought  one,  and  then,  when  he 
found  a  handsomer  dog,  he  bought  that  and 
gave  the  other  away.  He  could  not  keep  all 
the  dogs.  Twenty  servants  would  not  have 
been  enough  to  carry  them  about,  and  take 
care  of  them.  He  kept  only  the  handsomest 
one. 


132         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

At  last  he  found  himself  in  a  wood.  Night 
came  on,  and  it  began  to  rain.  There  was 
thunder  and  lightning,  and  he  lost  his  way. 
He  groped  about  and  saw  a  light  in  the  dis- 
tance. He  went  toward  it,  and  soon  was  in 
front  of  a  fine  palace. 

The  door  to  the  palace  was  of  gold,  studded 
with  sapphires,  and  these  shone  with  a  bright 
light.  This  was  the  light  the  prince  had  seen. 
The  walls  of  the  palace  were  of  fine  china, 
and  there  were  wonderful  paintings  upon 
them.  These  paintings  showed  the  adven- 
tures of  all  the  fairies  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world. 

The  prince  saw  a  deer's  foot  hanging  by 
the  side  of  the  door.  It  was  hung  at  the  end 
of  a  chain  of  diamonds,  and  was  plainly  a 
bell-pull.  He  was  greatly  astonished,  for  he 
saw  no  one,  and  he  wondered  that  thieves 
had  not  long  ago  stolen  the  diamonds  and  the 
sapphires. 

He  pulled  the  deer's  foot  and  heard  a  bell 
ring.  Soon  the  golden  door  opened.  He  saw 
nobody,  but  he  saw  twelve  hands  in  the  air, 
each  holding  a  torch.  He  looked  and  did 
not  know  what  to  do.  Then  he  felt  himself 


THE  WHITE  CAT.  133 

gently  pushed  from  behind,  so  he  walked  on 
into  the  palace.  There  he  heard  a  voice  sing- 
ing:— 

Welcome  prince,  no  danger  fear, 
Mirth  and  love  attend  you  here. 

The  hands  with  the  torches  led  him  through 
one  door  after  another,  into  one  room  after 
another.  Each  room  was  more  splendid  than 
the  last.  Finally  the  hands  drew  a  chair  near 
a  fire,  and  beckoned  him  to  sit  down. 

The  hands  he  saw  were  white  and  fair. 
They  took  away  his  wet  clothes  and  brought 
him  new  fine  linen,  and  a  warm  wrapper  in 
which  he  sat  before  the  fire.  Then  they 
placed  before  him  a  glass  upon  a  stand,  and 
began  to  comb  and  brush  his  hair  gently. 
They  brought  a  bowl  with  perfumed  water  in 
it,  and  washed  his  face  and  hands. 

Now  the  prince  was  fresh  and  warm,  and 
the  hands  gave  him  a  princely  suit  of  clothes. 
When  he  was  dressed,  they  led  him  out  of  the 
chamber  to  a  grand  hall.  Here  a  table  was 
set  with  rich  and  dainty  food.  Two  plates 
were  on  the  table,  and  the  prince  wondered1 
who  was  to  eat  with  him. 


134         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

n. 

A    YEAR    OF    SPORT. 

Just  then  he  looked  up  and  saw  a  small 
figure  coming  toward  him.  It  was  covered 
with  a  long  black  veil,  and  was  not  more  than 
a  foot  high.  On  each  side  walked  a  cat 
dressed  in  black,  and  behind  came  a  great 
number  of  cats,  some  carrying  cages  full  of 
rats,  and  others  mouse-traps  filled  with  mice. 

The  prince  did  not  know  what  to  think. 
The  little  figure  drew  near,  and  drew  aside 
her  veil.  It  was  a  cat,  a  beautiful  white  cat, 
but  looking  sad  and  gentle.  She  said  to  the 
prince  :  — 

"  You  are  welcome,  prince.  It  makes  me 
glad  to  have  you  come." 

"  Madam,"  said  the  prince,  "  I  thank  you 
for  all  your  goodness  to  me.  I  cannot  help 
thinking  you  must  be  a  wonderful  being,  to 
have  this  beautiful  palace,  to  be  able  to  speak, 
and  yet  —  to  be  a  cat ! " 

"  That  is  true,"  said  the  cat,  "  but  I  do  not 
like  to  talk,  and  I  do  not  like  to  hear  fine 
things  said  to  me.  Let  us  sit  down  to  sup- 
per." 


THE  WHITE  CAT.  135 

The  hands  then  placed  some  dishes  on  the 
table,  in  front  of  the  prince  and  the  White 
Cat.  The  prince  had  a  pie  made  of  young 
pigeons,  but  the  White  Cat  had  one  made  of 
fat  mice.  The  prince  at  first  did  not  like  to 
touch  his  food.  He  was  not  quite  sure  what 
it  was,  but  the  White  Cat  told  him  not  to  be 
afraid.  The  dishes  before  him  had  no  bit  of 
rat  or  mouse  in  them. 

When  supper  was  over,  the  prince  noticed 
that  the  White  Cat  carried  a  little  picture  hung 
by  a  cord  upon  one  of  her  feet.  He  asked  to 
look  at  it.  It  was  a  portrait  of  a  young  man. 
To  his  great  surprise,  it  was  his  own  likeness. 

He  did  not  ask  the  White  Cat  to  explain 
this,  for  she  had  a  look  which  forbade  him. 
They  talked  together  about  many  things,  and 
then  the  White  Cat  bade  the  prince  good- 
night. The  hands,  with  torches,  led  him  to 
his  chamber,  and  there  he  slept. 

He  was  waked  in  the  morning  by  a  noise 
outside.  He  got  up,  and  the  hands  brought 
him  a  handsome  hunting-jacket.  The  noise 
kept  on,  and  he  looked  out  of  the  window. 
There  he  saw  more  than  five  hundred  cats  in 
the  open  space  before  the  palace.  They  were 
making  ready  for  a  hunt. 


136         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

The  White  Cat  soon  came  and  asked  him 
to  join  their  sport,  and  he  was  given  a  wooden 
horse  to  ride  on.  The  White  Cat  mounted  a 
monkey.  She  wore  a  dragoon's  cap,  which 
made  her  look  very  bold  and  fierce. 

The  horns  sounded,  and  away  they  went. 
The  cats  ran  faster  than  the  hares  and  rab- 
bits, and  when  they  caught  any  they  brought 
them  to  the  prince  and  the  White  Cat.  They 
chased  birds  as  well  as  rabbits.  Up  the  trees 
they  went,  and  the  White  Cat  on  the  monkey 
climbed  more  quickly  than  any,  and  mounted 
the  highest  trees,  to  the  eagle's  nest. 

When  the  chase  was  over,  they  all  went 
back  to  the  palace.  The  White  Cat  sat  down 
at  the  table  with  the  prince,  and  they  had  a 
fine  supper.  Again  the  hands  led  the  prince 
to  his  chamber,  and  he  slept  soundly. 

So  it  went  on  day  after  day.  Every  day 
there  was  some  new  pleasure,  and  the  White 
Cat  was  so  gentle,  so  sweet,  and  so  thoughtful, 
that  the  prince  could  not  bear  to  think  of 
leaving  the  palace. 

"  How  can  I  go  away  from  you  ?  "  he  cried 
one  day.  "  Can  you  not  make  me  a  cat  to 
live  here  always  ?  or,  can  you  not  make  your- 


THE  WHITE  CAT.  137 

self  a  lady  ?  "  But  the  White  Cat  only  smiled, 
and  made  no  answer. 

At  last  a  year  had  almost  gone.  The  White 
Cat  knew  what  day  the  prince  must  return  to 
his  father,  and  told  him  that  he  had  but  three 
days  left. 

"  Alas  !  "  said  the  prince.  "  What  shall  I 
do  ?  I  have  not  yet  found  a  dog  small 
enough." 

"  Never  fear,"  said  the  White  Cat.  « I  will 
see  that  you  have  a  dog,  and  I  will  also  give 
you  a  wooden  horse,  so  that  you  can  ride  home 
in  a  few  hours." 

When  the  day  came,  the  White  Cat  gave 
the  prince  an  acorn,  and  told  him  to  put  it 
close  to  his  ear.  He  did  so,  and  could  hear 
a  little  dog  barking  inside  the  acorn.  He 
was  delighted,  and  thanked  the  White  Cat  a 
thousand  times. 


m. 

THE    LITTLE   DOG   AND   THE    CAMBRIC. 

The  prince  mounted  his  wooden  horse,  and 
soon  was  at  the  place  where  he  was  to  meet 


138         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

his  brothers.  The  two  eldest  told  their  stories. 
The  youngest  kept  silence,  and  showed  only 
a  cheap  cur.  The  brothers  trod  on  each 
other's  toes  under  the  table,  as  much  as  to  say, 
"  We  have  nothing  to  fear  from  this  dog." 

The  next  day  they  all  went  to  the  palace. 
The  dogs  of  the  two  elder  brothers  were 
brought  in  on  soft  rugs  ;  they  were  wrapped 
about  in  silk  quilts,  and  it  was  hard  to  see 
anything  of  them.  However,  the  king  looked 
at  each,  and  could  not  make  up  his  mind 
which  was  the  smaller  and  prettier.  So  the 
two  princes  began  to  quarrel. 

At  this  the  youngest  son  came  forward. 
Nobody  had  looked  at  his  cur,  but  now  he 
showed  them  his  acorn.  He  broke  the  shell, 
and  out  jumped  a  little  dog.  He  held  his 
finger  ring,  and  the  dog  leaped  through  it. 
There  was  no  doubt  now  who  had  the  smallest 
and  prettiest  dog. 

The  king  could  not  possibly  find  any  fault 
with  the  dog,  but  he  could  not  bear  to  give 
up  his  crown  yet.  So  he  thanked  his  sons 
for  their  trouble,  and  asked  them  to  try  once 
more.  He  wished  them  to  be  gone  a  year, 
and  at  the  end  of  that  tune  to  bring  him 


THE  WHITE  CAT.  139 

a  fine  piece  of  cambric.  It  must  be  fine 
enough  to  be  drawn  through  the  eye  of  a 
small  needle. 

The  three  princes  thought  this  very  hard, 
but  they  set  off  as  before.  The  two  eldest 
took  different  roads.  The  youngest  mounted 
his  wooden-horse,  and  quickly  came  to  the 
palace  of  the  White  Cat.  There  he  was  re- 
ceived with  great  joy.  The  hands  helped  him 
to  dismount,  and  the  table  was  spread  before 
him.  The  best  food  was  given  him,  and  the 
White  Cat  sat  opposite.  He  told  her  what 
a  hard  task  his  father  had  set. 

"  Do  not  be  troubled,"  she  said.  "  I  have 
cats  in  my  palace  who  can  make  just  such 
cambric.  So  be  at  ease  and  enjoy  yourself." 

The  prince  knew  how  to  enjoy  himself. 
He  talked  with  the  White  Cat  about  all  sorts 
of  things,  and  they  hunted  together.  And 
when  he  was  alone,  why,  he  could  think  about 
the  White  Cat,  and  what  she  said  last.  Oh 
yes,  he  knew  how  to  enjoy  himself. 

Thus  another  year  went  by.  At  the  end 
of  the  year  the  White  Cat  said  to  the  prince  : 

"  This  time  you  must  go  in  state." 

Then    he    saw   in    the    yard    a   splendid 


140         THE  BOOK   OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

carriage,  covered  with  gold  and  diamonds. 
Twelve  horses  as  white  as  snow  were  har- 
nessed to  it,  and  a  troop  of  horsemen  was 
ready  to  ride  behind  and  by  the  side  of  the 
carriage.  The  White  Cat  bade  the  prince 
good-by,  and  gave  him  a  walnut. 

"  In  this  nut,"  she  said,  "  is  the  cambric. 
But  you  must  not  open  the  nut  till  you  come 
before  the  king." 

Away  went  the  horses,  and  carried  the 
prince  in  a  twinkling  to  the  king's  palace. 
His  two  brothers  were  already  there.  They 
all  went  into  the  king's  presence,  and  the 
eldest  brought  out  his  piece  of  cambric.  No 
one  had  ever  seen  anything  so  fine.  The  king 
took  the  needle.  The  .tip  end  of  the  cambric 
went  through  the  eye,  but  the  piece  could  not 
be  pulled  further. 

The  second  son  tried,  but  his  piece  failed 
also.  Then  the  youngest  prince  came  for- 
ward with  an  elegant  box,  covered  with  jew- 
els. He  opened  the  box  and  took  out  the 
walnut.  He  smiled,  and  looked  about,  and 
cracked  the  shell.  Then  he  looked  sober. 
There  was  no  cambric  here,  only  a  filbert. 

However,  he  cracked  the  shell  of  the  filbert. 


THE  WHITE  CAT.  141 

Out  came  a  cherry-stone.  He  looked  more 
serious  still.  The  brothers  and  the  lords  of 
the  court  began  to  laugh.  What  could  be 
more  silly  than  this  prince  with  his  cherry- 
stone ! 

The  prince  now  cracked  the  cherry-stone, 
and  took  out  the  kernel.  He  split  it,  and 
found  a  grain  of  wheat ;  he  opened  the  grain 
of  wheat,  and  there  was  a  grain  of  millet-seed. 
All  the  court  was  now  laughing.  The  prince 
grew  red  in  the  face,  and  muttered :  — 

"  0  White  Cat,  White  Cat,  you  have  de- 
ceived me." 

When  he  said  this  he  felt  a  scratch  on  his 
arm.  He  saw  nothing,  but  it  was  just  as  if 
a  cat  scratched  him.  That  brought  him  to  , 
his  senses.  He  opened  the  millet-seed  very 
carefully,  and  drew  forth  a  piece  of  cambric. 
It  was  four  hundred  yards  long,  and  was  so 
fine  that  it  was  easily  drawn  through  the  eye 
of  the  needle. 

The  king  could  ask  nothing  more.  But 
he  was  not  ready  to  give  up  his  crown,  so 
he  said  to  his  sons  :  — 

"  You  have  done  nobly.  Now  one  of  you 
must  be  king.  But  it  will  not  do  for  one  to 


142         THE  BOOK   OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

be  king  without  a  queen.  So  go  away  and 
find  the  most  beautiful  woman  in  the  world. 
At  the  end  of  the  year  come  back.  The  one 
who  brings  the  most  beautiful  woman  shall 
marry  her  and  have  my  kingdom." 


IV. 

THE  WHITE  CAT  HAS  HER  HEAD  CUT  OFF. 

The  three  brothers  set  off  again  on  their 
travels,  and  the  youngest  drove  straight  to 
the  palace  of  the  White  Cat.  He  could  not 
bear  to  speak  or  think  of  his  errand.  He 
was  so  happy,  however,  with  the  White  Cat 
that  he  quite  forgot  everything  for  another 
year.  At  the  end  of  that  time  the  White 
Cat  herself  reminded  him  what  he  had  to 
do. 

"  You  must  now  go  back  to  your  father, 
but  you  shall  take  with  you  a  beautiful  prin- 
cess. Cut  off  my  head  and  my  tail,  and  throw 
them  into  the  fire." 

"  I !  "  said  the  prince.  "  I  cut  off  your 
head  and  tail !  How  can  I,  when  I  love  you 
so?" 


"ERTY  OF  HURLEY  JNDEPHND- 


"  You  must.  That  is  the  way  to  prove 
your  love.  If  you  love  me,  do  as  I  bid  you." 

The  prince  looked  at  the  White  Cat.  Her 
eyes  said  the  same  thing  to  him.  He  took 
his  sword,  and  did  as  she  bade  him.  No 
sooner  had  he  done  this  than  the  White  Cat 
was  gone,  and  a  beautiful  princess  stood  be- 
fore him.  At  the  same  moment  the  room 
was  full  of  maids  and  gentlemen.  All  the 
cats  were  gone.  The  prince  was  astonished. 
The  beautiful  princess  sent  away  all  the  peo- 
ple, and  then  told  the  story  of  her  life  to  the 
prince. 

V. 

THE    WHITE    CAT'S   STORY. 

"  Do  not  think  I  have  always  been  a  cat. 
My  father  was  a  king,  and  had  six  kingdoms. 
He  loved  my  mother  dearly,  and  let  her  do 
just  as  she  wished.  She  liked  best  to  travel 
and  to  see  new  sights.  One  day  she  heard  of 
a  distant  country  where  the  fairies  had  a  gar- 
den, and  in  this  garden  was  the  most  delicious 
fruit  ever  eaten. 

"  She  wished  at  once  to  taste  this  fruit,  and 


144  THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

so  she  set  off  for  the  country.  She  came  to  a 
noble  palace  and  knocked  at  the  gate.  No 
one  came  out.  She  waited.  No  one  appeared 
anywhere  in  sight.  But  over  the  garden  wall 
she  saw  the  fruit. 

"  My  mother  bade  her  servants  pitch  her  tent 
close  by  the  gate.  There  she  stayed  six  weeks. 
Yet  she  saw  no  one  go  in  or  out.  She  was  so 
vexed  and  so  disappointed  that  at  the  end  of 
six  weeks  she  fell  sick. 

"  One  night,  when  she  was  almost  dead,  she 
opened  her  eyes  and  saw  an  old  woman,  small 
and  ugly.  It  was  one  of  the  fairies  who 
owned  the  garden.  This  old  woman  was  sit- 
ting in  a  chair  by  the  bed,  and  spoke  to  my 
mother. 

"  '  Why  do  you  come  here  for  our  fruit  ? ' 
she  asked.  (  My  sisters  and  I  do  not  like  it  at 
all.  We  did  not  mean  you  should  have  any. 
But  now  you  are  very  ill,  and  we  do  not  want 
you  to  die  here,  you  may  have  all  you  want, 
if  you  will  give  us  what  we  ask  and  then  go 


"  '  Oh,'  said  my  mother,  *  I  will  give  you 
everything  I  have,  to  the  half  of  my  king- 
dom, if  you  will  only  give  me  the  fruit.' 


THE  WHITE  CAT.  145 

"<  Very  well.  You  will  have  a  clrild.  When 
the  child  is  born,  give  her  to  us.  We  will 
take  care  of  her,  and  she  shall  be  a  beautiful 
princess.' 

" '  That  is  pretty  hard/  said  my  mother, 
'but  I  must  have  the  fruit,  or  I  shall  die. 
So  the  child  shall  be  yours.' 

"  Then  my  mother  rose  and  dressed,  and 
went  into  the  garden.  Here  she  ate  her  fill. 
Besides,  she  ordered  four  thousand  mules  to 
be  loaded  with  the  fruit,  for  it  was  of  a  kind 
that  would  never  spoil.  Thus  she  travelled 
back  to  my  father.  He  was  overjoyed  to  see 
her,  and  she  said  nothing  of  the  promise  she 
had  given. 

"  By  and  by,  however,  she  grew  sad,  and  my 
father  asked  her  what  troubled  her.  Then 
she  told  him,  the  whole  story.  At  first  he  was 
greatly  troubled,  but  he  began  to  think  how 
he  should  prevent  the  fairies  from  getting  his 
child. 

"  As  soon  as  I  was  born  he  had  me  taken  to 
the  top  of  a  high  tower.  There  were  twenty 
flights  of  stairs  leading  up  to  the  room  in 
which  I  was  placed.  A  door  was  at  the 
foot  of  each  flight,  and  was  locked,  and  my 


146         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

father  kept  the  key.     He  did  not  mean  that 
any  one  should  get  at  me. 

"  When  the  fairies  heard  of  this,  they  were 
very  angry.  They  sent  forth  a  great  dragon, 
and  the  dragon  breathed  forth  fire,  and  burnt 
up  the  grass  and  trees.  It  was  very  fierce, 
too,  and  killed  men,  women,  and  children. 
So  my  father  was  filled  with  dismay,  and  sent 
word  that  the  fairies  should  have  me." 


VI. 

THE   WHITE    CAT'S    STORY    ENDED. 

"I  was  placed  in  a  cradle  of  mother-of- 
pearl,  and  carried  to  the  palace  by  the  gar- 
den where  my  mother  had  eaten  the  fruit. 
The  dragon  at  once  disappeared,  and  all  went 
well  in  my  father's  kingdom. 

"  The  fairies  gave  me  a  room  in  a  tower, 
and  I  had  everything  I  could  ask.  Here  I 
grew  up.  I  knew  nothing  of  my  father  or 
mother.  The  fairies  came  to  see  me,  but  they 
rode  the  dragon,  and  flew  in  at  the  window. 
You  must  know,  there  was  no  door  to  the 
tower.  There  were  windows,  high  up  from 


THE  WHITE  CAT.  147 

the  ground,  and  there  was  a  garden  upon  the 
top  of  the  tower. 

"  The  fairies  were  very  kind  to  me,  and  all 
went  well.  I  played  in  the  garden  on  the 
tower,  and  I  had  my  birds  and  flowers.  But 
one  day  I  was  sitting  at  one  of  the  windows, 
talking  with  my  parrot,  when  I  saw  a  fine- 
looking  man  below.  He  stood  listening  to 
the  parrot  and  me. 

"  I  never  had  seen  a  man  except  in  pictures, 
and  I  was  very  glad  to  see  this  one.  \Ve 
spoke  to  each  other  through  the  window, 
and  so  it  went  on  day  after  day.  At  last  I 
thought  I  could  not  bear  to  live  alone  in  the 
tower,  and  I  planned  to  escape. 

"  I  begged  the  fairies  to  bring  me  some  cord 
and  needles,  to  make  a  net  with.  There  were 
birds  flying  about,  and  if  I  had  a  net  I  could 
catch  one.  They  gave  me  these  things,  and 
I  made  a  ladder  which  reached  from  my  win- 
dow to  the  ground. 

"  I  meant  to  climb  down  the  ladder,  but  be- 
fore I  could  do  so  my  lover  had  climbed  up. 
He  leaped  in  at  my  window.  At  first  I  was 
frightened,  but  then  I  was  glad  to  have  him 
with  me.  He  gave  me  a  picture  of  himself, 


148          THE  BOOK   OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

but  while  we  were  talking-,  the  Fairy  Violent 
flew  in  at  the  window  on  the  back  of  the  dra- 
gon. She  was  in  a  great  rage,  and  bade  the 
dragon  at  once  devour  my  lover. 

"  I  tried  to  cast  myself  into  the  mouth  of 
the  dragon,  for  I  no  longer  cared  to  live. 
But  the  fairy  held  me  back,  and  said  she  had 
another  punishment  for  me.  She  touched  me 
with  her  wand,  and  I  became  at  once  a  White 
Cat. 

"  She  brought  me  to  this  palace,  and  gave 
me  a  troop  of  cats  to  wait  on  me.  They 
were  lords  and  ladies  who  had  been  turned 
into  cats.  The  hands  were  the  hands  of  ser- 
vants who  could  not  be  seen.  Here  I  was  to 
stay  a  cat  until  a  prince  should  come  who 
looked  exactly  like  my  lover,  and  who  should 
cut  off  my  head  and  my  tail. 

"  My  prince,  look  at  this  picture.  It  is 
your  exact  image.  You  have  saved  me  from 
the  fairies,  and  I  love  you  with  all  my  heart." 

The  prince  was  overjoyed.  He  made  haste 
to  set  out  for  his  father's  palace  with  the 
beautiful  princess.  Again  the  brothers  stood 
before  she  king,  each  with  a  beautiful  princess. 


LITTLE  RED-RIDING-HOOD.  149 

The  king  was  now  at  his  wits'  end,  but  the 
princess,  who  had  lately  been  a  White  Cat, 
came  forward  and  said  :  — 

"  0  king,  it  is  a  thousand  pities  that  you 
should  give  up  your  kingdom.  You  are  not 
old.  You  are  very  wise,  and  ought  to  reign 
many  years.  I  have  six  kingdoms.  Let  me 
give  one  to  each  of  your  two  eldest  sons. 
Then  the  youngest  son  and  I  will  still  have 
four  kingdoms.  More  than  all,  you  will  not 
have  to  decide  which  of  us  three  princesses  is 
the  most  beautiful." 

Everybody  set  up  a  shout.  The  three  wed- 
dings took  place  at  once,  and  the  kingdoms 
were  divided  between  the  princes. 


LITTLE  RED-RIDING-HOOD. 

ONCE  upon  a  time  there  lived  in  a  certain 
village  a  little  girl.  Her  mother  was  very 
fond  of  her,  and  her  grandmother  doted  on 
her  even  more.  This  good  old  woman  made 
for  her  a  red  cloak,  that  suited  the  child  so 
well  that  ever  after  she  was  called  Little  Red- 
Riding-Hood. 


150         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

One  day  her  mother  made  some  cakes,  and 
said  to  Little  Red-Riding-Hood :  — 

"  Go,  my  dear,  and  see  how  grandmother 
does,  for  I  hear  she  has  been  very  ill.  Carry 
her  a  cake  and  a  little  pot  of  butter." 

Little  Red-Riding-Hood  set  out  at  once  to 
go  to  her  grandmother,  who  lived  in  another 
village.  As  she  was  going  through  the  wood 
she  met  a  great  wolf.  He  had  a  very  great 
mind  to  eat  her  up ;  but  he  dared  not,  for 
there  were  some  wood-choppers  near  by.  So 
he  asked  her :  — 

"  Where  are  you  going,  little  girl  ?  "  The 
poor  child  did  not  know  that  it  was  danger- 
ous to  stop  and  talk  with  the  wolf,  and  she 
said :  — 

"  I  am  going  to  see  my  grandmother,  and 
carry  her  a  cake  and  a  little  pot  of  butter 
from  my  mother." 

"  Does  she  live  far  off  ?  "  asked  the  wolf. 

"  Oh,  yes.  It  is  beyond  that  mill  you  see 
there,  at  the  first  house  in  the  village." 

"  Well,"  said  the  wolf,  "  I  will  go  and  see 
her,  too.  I  will  go  this  way ;  do  you  go  that, 
and  we  will  see  who  will  be  there  soonest." 

At  this  the  wolf  began  to  run  as  fast  as 


LITTLE  RED-RIDING-HOOD.  151 

he  could,  taking  the  nearest  way,  and  Little 
Red-Riding-Hood  went  by  the  farthest.  She 
stopped  often  to  chase  a  butterfly,  or  pluck  a 
flower,  and  so  she  was  a  good  while  on  the 
way.  The  wolf  was  soon  at  the  old  woman's 
house,  and  knocked  at  the  door — tap,  tap ! 

"Who  is  there?" 

"  Your  grandchild,  Little  Red -Riding- 
Hood,"  replied  the  wolf,  changing  his  voice. 
"  I  have  brought  you  a  cake  and  a  pot  of 
butter  from  mother."  The  good  grand- 
mother, who  was  ill  in  bed,  called  out :  — 

"  Pull  the  string,  and  the  latch  will  go  up." 

The  wolf  pulled  the  string,  and  the  latch 
went  up.  The  door  opened,  and  he  jumped 
in,  and  fell  upon  the  old  woman,  and  ate  her 
up  in  less  than  no  time,  for  he  had  not  tasted 
food  for  three  days.  He  then  shut  the  door, 
and  got  into  the  grandmother's  bed.  By  and 
by,  Little  Red-Riding-Hood  came  and  knocked 
at  the  door  —  tap,  tap  ! 

"Who  is  there?" 

Little  Red-Riding^Hood  heard  the  big  voice 
of  the  wolf,  and  at  first  she  was  afraid.  Then 
she  thought  her  grandmother  must  have  a  bad 
cold,  and  be  very  hoarse,  so  she  answered :  — 


152         THE  BOOK  OF  FOLK  STORIES. 

"  Little  Red-Riding-Hood.  I  have  brought 
you  a  cake  and  a  pot  of  butter  from 
mother."  The  wolf  softened  his  voice  as 
much  as  he  could,  and  called  out :  — 

"  Pull  the  string,  and  the  latch  will  go  up." 

Little  Red-Riding-Hood  pulled  the  string, 

and  the  latch  went  up,  and  the  door  opened. 

The  wolf  was  hiding  under  the  bedclothes 

and  called  out  in  a  muffled  voice  :  — 

"  Put  the  cake  and  the  pot  of  butter  on 
the  shelf,  and  come  to  bed." 

Little  Red-Riding-Hood  made  ready  for 
bed.  Then  she  looked  with  wonder  at  her 
grandmother,  who  had  changed  so  much,  and 
she  said :  — 

"  Grandmother,  what  great  arms  you 
have  !  " 

"  The  better  to  hug  you,  my  dear." 
"  Grandmother,  what  great  ears  you  have ! " 
"  The  better  to  hear  you,  my  dear." 
"  Grandmother,  what  great  eyes  you  have ! " 
"  The  better  to  see  you,  my  dear." 
"  Grandmother,  what  great  teeth  you  have ! " 
"  The  better  to  eat  you."     And  at  this  the 
wicked  wolf  sprang  up  and  fell  upon  poor 
Little  Red-Riding-Hood  and  ate  her  all  up. 


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